The Implications of Forever
by FairyLightsAndGlitter
Summary: Rose and Scorpius are nineteen and in love. Afraid of the implications of forever, their relationship is all about saying the wrong things at the right time and clinging to something both know is unnecessarily painful. It could be easy and beautiful, but neither has ever been known for making things less difficult. Soon, everything will change, but will it be for the better?
1. The only time failing a test is desired

She was vindictive. Ridiculously so. She was passionate. Unbearably so. He was exactly the same except, according to her, underneath it all he had a heart of gold. He adored her and she adored him right back. She hated him and he hated her right back. They'd scream and they'd fight and they'd make each other cry. He'd usually apologise first because he couldn't stand the silence for as long as she could. She lived in fear that one day he'd be tired of being the bigger person and leave her to her own destructive, cruel self. That terrified her. He knew that and had secretly vowed to himself to never leave her. He hadn't told her that, though. It was sick, he knew, but a part of him liked that one of her greatest fears was based around his leaving her. He wouldn't ever leave her, he couldn't. Just like she couldn't ever say the words that she knew would push him away forever.

They made sense, somehow. In amongst the anger and the tears and the fights and the scarily noisy silences, the pair of them had found something precious, something worth holding onto. It was so precious, in fact, that even on the days where destruction was all either craved, they could never quite bring themselves to destroy it completely. They clung on so tightly to what they had whilst dangling it over flames which ceaselessly tickled the edges of it. They could only go so far until one or both pulled it back to safety so that they could cling onto it and onto each other for as long as it took for their desire for destruction to go away.

They had found something precious inside of each other, hidden underneath her hostility and cruel words, amongst his inability to speak his mind and the ugly thoughts he verbalised when he did so. It was dangerous, whatever it was that they had, and that made them depend on it and on each other all the more.

She knew exactly what to say to make him leave for good, yet she had always stumbled upon that sentence and had never said it for real. All because of the simple fact that she didn't want him to leave. Not ever. He was hers and she was his and it hurt and it made both cry at times from the all too-muchness of it. It was so much and they were so young and it truly scared them how strongly they felt for each other when they were barely even nineteen years old. It wasn't right, they couldn't help but think. Surely this amount of passion would eventually burn out and they'd be left with nothing. That scared them half to death. Her parents had been like that, quietly in occasionally unrequited crazy love for years, then in fully crazy and reciprocated love for just a few others and then... nothing. And then the passion had turned into nothing but anger purely for the sake of anger, resentment at being stuck with someone you'd fallen out of love with seemingly years ago. And sadness, immeasurable bittersweet sadness. And his parents? He wasn't sure if the passion had ever been there, he couldn't help but wonder if they'd sunk into sad resentment moments after their arranged marriage. Most likely.

They didn't want to be their parents and they didn't want their flames to burn out. He was her everything and she was his and it terrified them both that neither could quite put into words the depth of their feelings.

It wasn't just becoming her mother that terrified Rose, though, it was the thought of no longer being free, of being entirely settled and staying in one place. This applied both literally and metaphorically. She needed to be able to know that she could go anywhere in the world should she desire it enough and she needed to know that her love for Scorpius would always be more than mundane and predictable. It had to be scary and adventurous and filled with surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant. They needed to be both mysterious and and new and filled with a desire to fully explore the other, both metaphorically and, well, physically too. It had to be everything, it had to be all-consuming and exciting and new and terrifying and filled with problems that could be temporarily fixed again and again and again.

It had to be.

More than anything, he wanted to tell her that she didn't see herself clearly. He wanted her to know that not only was she beautiful, but she was kind and loving and alive and fun and exciting and endlessly fascinating and real and that he knew her coolness and hostility had always been nothing but a persona because he had seen her empty her usually bulging purse into the fountain subtly whenever she met him for lunch at work, because he had accidentally read one of the letters he hadn't known she anonymously wrote to the Hogwarts students who had attended the magical orphanage before school. Every day he saw examples of how good and kind and loving she was to everybody and sometimes he even caught an unbearable tenderness in the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking back. He loved her for her intelligence and her beauty and her kindness and her sense of humour and her smile and her voice and her poetry she would occasionally allow him to read. She was everything to him and he knew that this was more than just a school relationship that had lasted too long in the real world. This was real and he knew he'd do all he could to cling onto it and to make sure she knew how wonderful she was and to maybe even see it in herself one day.

If she could find the words, she'd tell him similar things. She'd tell him he made her more happy than angry just by entering the room, in spite of what she might say. She'd tell him that he was far more intelligent than he gave himself credit for and could write better than anyone she'd never known, she'd tell him that the way he could put pen to paper made up for his frequent difficulties in verbalising what was truly on his mind. She'd tell him that he made her feel alive and important and real and worthy and that his face made her want to dance and his mouth made her want to sing and that everything about him overwhelmed her to the point where she didn't know where she'd start if she were to make a list of reasons why she loved him so much. He was everything to her and he loved him with everything that she was and she was scared that one day he'd see her the way she saw herself and that would make him run away faster than the words she knew she'd never be able to say would. Losing her terrified him and she knew that her love for him was real and not just the remains of a Hogwarts relationship that wouldn't last much longer. She knew that if she let him and if he let her, they would be forever. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, given that in her mind, 'forever' had always had its implications.

The concept of 'forever' both scared and excited them both, especially as the potentially previously unacknowledged existence of one part of what their forever could be in some weird way was based upon which of them would get the courage to look at the Muggle pregnancy test now that the few minutes it asked for them to wait were over...


	2. Unexpected Responses

"Shit Rosie, you look first, yeah?"

"No. No way. It's up to you- you look!"

"It's your body Rosie, so it's your right to look- go on!"

"It's your sperm's fault Scor, so it's your job to look- go on!"

"Well Rosie, I am-"

"Scared shitless. Me too, Scorpius, me too."

"Together then?"

"Together."

"On the count of three?"

"Yeah. One..."

"Two.."

"Three-"

Both opened their eyes and looked at the test. According to the leaflet that had come in the box with it, the test was positive.

"Fuck." Rose and Scorpius said together, before looking carefully at each other and then holding each other tightly. Both were shaking. And neither had a clue what to say next.

After what felt like hours had passed, the pair stayed wrapped around each other and shuffled towards their bed where they immediately lay and continued to cuddle without saying anything.

The strange thing was that both of their minds were blank. That was the last thing Rose would have imagined upon finding out that they were probably going to be parents at nineteen. But nonetheless, neither was able to think anything really. They lay in a shocked silence and thought in a collective shocked silence. There was nothing to say and there was nothing to think other than that one way or another, their lives were about to change forever.

* * *

**_4 hours later..._**

It was dark outside by the time either felt able to speak again. Rose disentangled herself from Scor's embrace and seated herself on the floor, leaning against the wallpaper which, both had decided last year when decorating, was the perfect clash of green and red. Taking a deep breath and giving him an almost desperate look, Rose began talking very quickly:

"You know, we don't know for certain. Not just yet. I've heard about it happening before, yeah? These tests are totally unreliable, it's almost definitely a false-positive, right?" Rose almost pleaded with Scorpius for this to be the truth.

They can't be parents. Not now, not yet and maybe not even ever. How could they even think about raising a child when they were barely able to look after each other. She couldn't be pregnant, she just couldn't be. But Scorpius, as ever, felt the need to be the voice of fucking reason. Sighing slightly, and joining Rose on the floor so that they were almost touching, he started to speak:

"Rosie, you must have had some idea before you screamed at me to buy a test, so unfortunately that makes it even more likely that you're- that we're-"

"I know, I know. My period's over a month late Scor. I haven't had one since April and now it's-"

"June, yeah." he finished for her, blushing. Now, Rose had always had an unpredictable temper and had always been known to flare up at sudden moments, often for reasons unbeknown to the recipient of her anger. Usually, and this time was no exception, whatever it was she felt the need to yell about had absolutely nothing to do with whatever it was that had made her mad, sad or angry:

"Are you really fucking blushing because I mentioned periods, Scor? Because until recently, blood gushed out of your girlfriend's va-"

"Stop Rose, I'm not being-" Scorpius tried to verbally prevent the flow of words from his girlfriend's mouth, knowing in the process that this was futile.

"Childish? I think you are. And let me tell you, if just mentioning my period- or lack of period- is enough to make you go all squirmy and pathetic, I'm not sure you'll be able to cope with my pregnancy or when I have to give birth, let alone parenthood..." Scorpius almost wanted to roll his eyes at this. He loved her more than anything but this was typical Rose behaviour.

"Stop it Rose!" he shouted, looking angrily at her and praying that today was one of the days he'd be able to extinguish the flames of her anger before it all got too much and ended in too many tears. Of course, this situation wasn't exactly common for them, but he'd try nonetheless.

"Stop what?" Rose snapped at him, opening her mouth as though she had more to say and then suddenly going quiet. All of a sudden she looked like she was about to cry and it was all Scorpius could do not to hold her tightly and tell her they'd work it out and it would all be alright. He wanted to do that so badly, but he knew there were things that had to be said before that was a even a possibility.

"Stop trying to push me out of this already. Stop pretending you aren't as scared as I am about this whole thing and just talk to me for real!" he told her, not quite shouting but sounding very stern nonetheless. Rose took a deep breath and tried to hold herself together, then she released everything that was on her mind:

"Okay, fine, I'll talk to you. I'll talk to you about how I'll be a horrific mother and how I'm terrified and how I don't know anything anymore and how I don't even know how this happened, let alone how I feel about it, I'll tell you how a part of me is almost happy and another part is hoping the test was wrong and I'm late for some other reason. I'll tell you how I'm scared you'll run away and how I know that if I were you I'd already be out the door and that just makes me hate myself all the more! I'll talk to you about how not only did I just notice my month long lack of period this morning, but I also threw up four times while you were fucking asleep and snoring and all warm and comfy and not being sick and that makes me really angry! I'll tell you how I'm scared and I'm angry and I'm probably sorry too but I don't know why and I don't even know if I care anymore as long as you're here and as long as you tell me lies like everything will be alright because I really don't want to need you but I do and I love you and I'm so scared Scor! You're scared too, right?" for the most part, Rose screamed this, but every now and then her voice wobbled and she once again looked on the verge of tears. Seeing her like that broke something inside Scorpius and he wanted nothing more than to be able to take away her pain.

"I love you Rose. Baby or no baby and no matter what we decide to do, I am not going anywhere. I am scared too and I know precisely what you mean about mixed feelings. I love you and I'm not going to leave you and you are not a horrible person for feeling that way, I promise. I promise that at some point, everything will be alright." Scorpius told her, kissing her forehead and then wrapping his arms around her as she finally let go of whatever misplaced pride she'd been trying to hold onto and allowed herself to cry. Rose Weasley didn't cry, it was a general rule. There were, however, always exceptions, and this was most definitely one of them. Scorpius, too, had broken a general rule. He had always refused to allow himself to tell Rose the truth, that he'd never leave. He'd never wanted to tell her this because he didn't want her getting too careless with his presence, because he hadn't wanted to be taken for granted and because it was the one thing he knew scared her and sometimes, he liked for his beautiful lioness to be as scared as he was.

That had changed, though. It seemed that in their moments of quiet reflection without thought, something inside both of them had changed dramatically but neither could properly put their finger on it.

The room was silent as both Rose and Scorpius began to allow themselves to think properly about their situation for the first time. Instead of entertaining the thought that there was a very slim chance she might not be pregnant, Rose made herself think about the practicalities. Rose thought about how they'd have to book an appointment at St Mungo's and how sooner or later she'd have to visit her mother and then her father to inform them that she was having the child of the son of their Hogwarts nemesis and was, in a weird way, sort of okay with it. Absent-mindedly, she put a hand to her stomach and found herself... smiling...

Rose gasped in shock.

At that moment in time, she was okay with the thought of having a child.

She, Rose Weasley, wasn't, at that moment, feeling terrified or trapped. She, Rose Weasley, was going to be a mother and a part of her was almost happy about it. No. What?

Rose walked backwards and allowed herself to collapse onto the bed. Scorpius noticed this and pulled himself out of wherever his thoughts had taken him and focused on the confused and stunned looking redhead lying on her back on their bed holding her stomach- tenderly?

Smiling hesitantly at her, Scorpius joined Rose on the bed and then gave her a hesitant look.

"Rosie? What- Are you- Are you feeling okay, or?"

"I think I am. Sort of. Scared shitless, obviously. But for at least this moment I'm-I'm-I'm I think I'm happy about this and I-I-I already feel something for the baby which is almost certainly inside my stomach and I really, really don't know how to feel about that... How do you feel about that?"

"Confused, terrified and happy. I- I know a lot of things will change, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing right, you know? Like, I obviously never imagined this happening, but..." he trailed off, as though waiting for Rose to fill in the gaps in his speech the way she usually did. Rose, however, shook her head and gestured for him to continue. "...but it doesn't seem altogether unappealing, you know? It's not like we haven't always been more committed than we like to pretend- I mean we've been together for over three years and we've been living in a fucking flat together since last summer and we're still happy and you know- I mean, we fight and we scream and I'm sometimes scared we'll be completely consumed by everything that we are, but I can't help but wonder if we've been overcomplicating it, you know?"

"Yes, I know what you mean, Scor. Like maybe it doesn't have to be complicated?"

"Exactly. Like even if it turns out you're not pregnant, a part of me thinks something's changed in the last few hours-" he realised the truth of his words as he said them and an immeasurable calmness took over him.

"-Like those hours of blank minds and pure terror were sort of cleansing?" she laughed through the last of her tears, grinning at him and then kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, like the thought of being tied to you with a child makes me happier than I can say. And you can't get any more permanent than a child, so I guess that means..."

"...That we aren't as afraid of forever as we'd thought- maybe?"

"Maybe. I love you Rose and forever isn't too scary right now. And I can't help but think that forever's what we've been fighting about most of the time-"

"Yeah, because forever's fucking terrifying. I just can't stand the thought of routine Scor, I can't stand the thought of finding a suitable house and living in it, of being responsible parents, you know?" she said, biting her lip because they both knew there was a lot more to it than that. Instead of doing what they usually did and ignoring the scary reality of things, Scorpius took a deep breath and said what both were truly thinking:

"It's more than that, though, and we both know it. We're scared that if we become too settled, too committed, we'll lose everything that makes us so exciting. We're scared that our love will become boring, just a matter of convenience. It's more than not wanting to give up mystery, it's about knowing that we need to stop fighting for the sake of make-up sex because we find it hotter, it's about knowing that we need to stop yelling unforgivable things at each other just to feel something because we know, deep down that we already do feel everything without cruelty being necessary, it's about the fact that we love each other more than anything and that despite what we sometimes like to tell ourselves, neither of us is going anywhere because, at risk of sounding horrendously fucking cliche and rom-com-y, there is nowhere better than wherever we are together.

"Fuck, Scor, you said it all and you say you have difficulty verbalising the things that need to be said. What's happened to us?" Rose laughed, then answered her own question, "We've fucking matured, that's what. Having a kid is a lifetime commitment. It's permanent and I'm not scared of permanence anymore and neither are you. I mean, I'm sure we'll always have that talent of pissing each other off to the point where homicide becomes a dangerously likely possibility, but I also feel like maybe it's time for us to accept that we are together and we are in love and it will almost definitely be forever for us." she grinned, then wrapped her arms around him and started spinning them around the room to music that wasn't on.

The couple twirled around their silent bedroom for the next few minutes. They knew that at some point they'd have to pull themselves out of this unexpectedly blissful haze of resolved difficulties and the bizarre promise that the likelihood of their child had brought them to, but for just that moment, they were content not to think too much about anything other than the fact that they were there, they were in love and that was enough for maybe forever. Of course, one of Scorpius's typically mistimed and rarely funny only sort-of jokes pulled them out of that haze:

"If it turns out you aren't pregnant, this will probably have been the most therapeutic pregnancy scares of all time..."

Rose rolled her eyes, but instead of shouting at him as she'd usually have done, she hit him playfully and then kissed him hard. He responded with the exact same level of passion and the two of them began to rapidly remove each other's clothes until they were both fully naked and kissing on the bed.

Scorpius deepened the kiss and Rose ran a hand through his hair and then pushed him closer to her, breathing deeply and quickly as everything inside of her felt more than alive at his touch. Beginning with her breasts, Scorpius slowly kissed his way down her body until he had her gasping his name, braiding her fingers through his hair and moaning in utter ecstasy and euphoria. Next, he placed a kiss on her mouth and, her breathing still ridiculously uneven, she began to kiss all the way down his body too, grinning to herself at the way he moaned the moment her lips came into contact with his most sensitive parts.

In the very back of their minds, the couple made plans to arrange an appointment at St Mungo's the next day.

Tonight, everything else would be put on hold...

* * *

"Okay so the appointment's at midday tomorrow, so how about you go from work and I meet you at the hospital?" Rose suggested as she seated herself next to Scorpius on the sofa, putting her legs into his lap and then lying on her back and staring at their beautifully decorated ceiling. It was Sunday morning, and the two were planning on spending the remainder of their weekend simply watching Muggle films all day.

"How about I meet you from your work?" Scorpius suggested, having not really paid any attention to what Rose had just been saying.

"You will be meeting me at my work, Scor, which part of you missed the part where I'm a healer and I work at the hospital and you are stupid?"

"Oops, sorry babe. Should've listened better."

"Yep, you should've done..." Rose replied, trying to sound stern.

"Do I need to make it up to you?" he asked, his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm not being funny Scor, but we fucked all night on Friday and most of Saturday. I am exhausted and I've thrown up three times already today. What part of that makes you think I am even contemplating anything of the sort right now?" she replied, laughing slightly as she closed her eyes and moved so that she was lying almost completely in his lap.

Scorpius grinned in response and gently stroked her hair. He wondered how long this peace between the two of them would last and thought about how, weirdly enough, he wasn't craving an argument and hadn't felt in need of one for ever such a long time. In fact, when he came to think about it, they hadn't had a proper screaming and genuinely furious argument in months, they'd just been going through the motions from time to time. Weird. Weird and scary. Weird and scary because this was either a really good thing or a really bad thing- either they were maturing and becoming honestly comfortable and secure and relaxed with their relationship, without the need for anger to stir things up, or they were losing that same passion they'd previously had for each other. He voiced this concern to Rose, and her somewhat sleepy response made him smile:

"I think we're finally at a stage where we know who we are and what we want and that we're past needing anger to stir it up because where we're at is perfect for both of us. It feels sort of forever too and I always thought that would bother me but it isn't." After saying this, Rose fell asleep as she curled up on top of him.

He tenderly watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and enjoying the way her auburn curls bounced slightly in the breeze coming in from the open window. After about ten minutes, he carefully picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, where he lay her on the bed and pulled the covers over her, pausing only to admire the way her legs looked in their pyjama shorts. Her legs were, like the rest of her, both petite and curvy, their gentle roundedness screamed femininity and the creamy look of her skin made him want to gently stroke her exposed thighs. He didn't, though, he knew that even in their current oddly blissed-out state, there was no way Rose would be nice to him if he dared wake her up.

Knowing that their plan of a lazy Sunday in front of the TV had been cut very short as a result of Rose's sudden desire for a nap, Scorpius decided to message Albus about a game of Quidditch. After scribbling a quick note which he sent with Hestia, Rose's owl, Scorpius made himself a cup of tea and sat at the kitchen table as he waited for Albus to reply.

As he sipped his tea, he thought about everything that had changed in the last few days and everything that he knew would be different by next year. One of the few things he couldn't see changing, though, was the way he felt about Rose. That was the main thing and that was what mattered. He was still rather confused about his response to the news of Rose's pregnancy, though. They'd had scares in the past, and just the words "I'm late" had previously been the scariest sentence he'd ever heard. In the past, he'd cringed at the thought of responsibility and commitment, but now he realised that not only had he and Rose been committed for longer than either had picked up on, but that the thought of growing up and raising children with her was not at all unappealing. It was, in fact, as exciting as hell.

Scorpius grinned to himself as he realised that having this child would probably be the most adventurous thing they'd ever done and that was a great thing for them both. Falling in love had been an adventure and it still was, every day he learnt something new about Rose and every day it felt like he loved her even more. That wouldn't stop just because the fights had stopped. It was in that moment that he realised exactly how he felt about Rose's pregnancy: thrilled. He was thrilled and excited and he couldn't wait for tomorrow when they'd find out more.

**A/N- ****_I originally posted this as three separate chapters, but then I saw that they worked together when put all in one chapter, especially as I intend for this to be a story more about Rose and Scorpius and their lives together than I intend for the focus to be on Rose's pregnancy, and I don't want readers to get the wrong impression from reading 3 relatively short chapters about their reactions to finding out about their child (don't know if that makes sense or not- sorry). I would absolutely love to get some feedback, so a review of any kind will be so unbelievably gratefully received if you would like to give me one :P _**


	3. Clarification

"I really wish there were more than two hospitals in Wizarding Britain." Rose complained as she pulled yet another false smile and waved at yet another of her colleagues as they walked past on their way down the corridor to the waiting room of St Myrtle's General Hospital For Witches & Wizards.

The pair walked through a set of doors and finally reached the waiting room which, aside from the typically grumpy welcome witch at the desk, was almost empty. Rose gave her name and appointment details to the welcome witch, who then gestured for she and Scorpius to sit down. Taking seats side by side, Scorpius took Rose's hand and she smiled gently at him.

"Hey, I said we'd go to my mother's for dinner tonight, a whole bunch of my family are also invited. Not Dad, though, she was ever so clear about that!" Rose told Scorpius, rolling her eyes at her mother's unnecessary clarification.

"Sounds good, I think Al mentioned that he'd be there when I saw him yesterday."

"You saw Al yesterday?"

"Yeah, I went out to play Quidditch with him after you fell asleep yesterday morning!"

"Oh yeah, sorry about that! We were going to have a nice lazy day but I ruined it by being as lazy as one can possibly be!"

"It was fine, you were tired after the amount of puking you'd been doing."

"Eugh, don't remind me. You slept through my vomitting at 3 AM this morning, by the way."

"I am ever so sorry I wasn't there to witness it!"

"You should be! You really missed out, it was sort of green because-"

"Rose, I really do not need a summary of the 3 AM contents of your stomach!"

"It's your fault I was throwing up!"

"It takes two to make a baby!"

"It was probably your fault, though!"

"Probably. I mean, it's unfair that I look like this, it means you can't resist me and who can blame you?" Scorpius said with a wink, Rose responded with an eye roll, she was about to say something witty and clever in return, but that was when they told by the receptionist that it was their turn to see the healer.

Suddenly, their light and jokey mood lifted and both suddenly felt really nervous. Getting up, Scorpius gave Rose's hand a squeeze and she squeezed back as they entered the healer's office through a door on the left. At the desk sat a witch of about Rose's mother's age with strawberry blonde hair which she wore in a long plait, she looked up and smiled at Rose and Scorpius, pointing at the two seats beside her desk.

"Rose Weasley?" the healer checked, addressing Rose.

"Yep," Rose replied quietly, her nerves increasing at the way the healer's eyebrows had raised upon recognising her surname.

"Hello Rose, I'm Healer Bones. What is it you've come to see to me about, specifically?" she asked. Rose took a deep breath, this would be the first time she said it out loud to anybody other than Scorpius.

"Well I took a muggle pregnancy test a few days ago and it was positive..." Rose said, unsure of how much detail was expected of her.

"When was your last period?" Healer Bones asked. Rose looked at Scorpius half hoping he was blushing so she could laugh at him. He wasn't.

"I'm not certain, but I think it was from around the fifteenth to the twentieth of April."

"Was there anything unusual about it?"

"No, it was the way it's always been since I was twelve."

Healer Bones took down a few notes and then smiled gently at Rose and Scorpius.

"And when did you last have unprotected sex?" she asked Rose. Both Rose and Scorpius blushed at this.

"I honestly don't know, we're usually very careful..."

"What method of contraception do you tend to use."

"The spell."

"Ah, 100 percent effective- provided it is used correctly..." Rose and Scorpius both squirmed slightly at this, before trying to remember the last time they'd forgotten. "Alright, so your period is almost two months late and the test you took was positive- have you had any other symptoms?"

"Yeah, I've been throwing up for the last few days, usually before midday."

"Alright, so I'm going to have you take another quick test so we can be certain and so we can find out the details."

"Um okay, great." Rose replied, looking anxiously at Scorpius.

"I'm assuming you're the father?" she asked him briskly, nodding at their intertwined hands and identical nervous expressions.

"Yeah, I am." he said, clearing his throat slightly.

"Okay, wonderful. Rose, if you could just stand up straight for me so I can use this spell?"

Rose stood up straight and the healer pointed her wand at Rose's stomach. A pink vapour suddenly arose from where the wand was pointed and then seemed to float into the tip of the wand. Healer Bones then placed her wand into a long, thin tube from which a slip of paper was printed. Gesturing for Rose to sit back down, she read the paper before turning back to Rose and Scorpius.

"The pink vapour was an immediate clarification of your pregnancy, nothing would have happened if you weren't pregnant, so congratulations to the both of you!" she said, allowing them a few seconds to process the news before continuing. Scorpius kissed Rose's forehead and both smiled, relieved to now be certain. "You conceived on the twenty seventh of April and as today is the twenty fifth of June, you are now almost 8 weeks pregnant and your baby is very healthy and due at the very end of December. Would you like to know the gender?" she asked.

Rose and Scorpius looked questioningly at each other Addressing Scorpius, Rose said:

"Shall we keep it a surprise?" and Scorpius nodded, smiling at her and putting an arm around her.

"Okay, well now that that's all sorted, I'd better tell you a bit about what to expect throughout your pregnancy..."

* * *

Rose and Scorpius were led to a table in a Muggle restaurant close to the hospital where the two had decided to stop for lunch before returning to work for the afternoon. Once seated, they faced each other and immediately started exchanging the most hideous faces either could pull. This was something they had been doing since they were thirteen and had eaten their first meal out together at The Three Broomsticks on their first ever Hogwarts visit. Al had been there as well and he'd been as bemused as usual at the behaviour of his two best friends. Rose realised suddenly that she hadn't seen him properly since her very drunken birthday party on the twenty seventh of April...

"Scor, I think I may have remembered how we forgot to cast the spell on the twenty seventh of April..." she began, giggling slightly.

"Hmm, what? Oh right, your birthday. The party we threw for everyone. With vodka, tequila and firewhiskey cocktails. We were so completely out of it that I'm surprised we even managed to fuck properly!"

"I know! It only just occured to me that the twenty seventh was my birthday party anyway, I was just preoccupied with thinking about the baby. Actually, I am very glad it was that night, now I come to think of it..."

"Why's that?"

"Remember that two day long hangover we both suffered through? That was when we made the bet that I could go without alcohol longer than you could. I had been slightly worried that I might have had a drink or two unknowingly while this baby was getting comfy in my tummy, but obviously not!" Rose grinned at this. Not only was she completely relieved that there were no chances of their baby being harmed, but that she'd made that bet with Scorpius and that both of them had been far too stubborn to allow the other to win the bet. That still hadn't changed, further easing the slight worries she'd had that they'd been maturing too much!

"Fuck, that hangover was the worst thing I think I've ever experienced. Remember when we realised that hangover potion on worked when magical alcohol had been consumed. Merlin, that was hell!"

"We had Al and Mel staying with us that weekend as well, right? They weren't as bad as we were and I wanted to murder them!"

"I wanted to murder them more when they failed to mention to us that they'd got together!"

"Oh yeah! They're still happy together, right?"

"Yep, my best friend and my cousin who's practically a sister are very happy together. Ugh, don't make me think about it!"

"They're quite cute, Scor, though if they get all coupley I will start to hate them!" Rose laughed, then laughed again when she noticed that she and Scor were holding hands underneath the table like they had when they were teenagers 'meeting the parents' for the first time.

"Yeah, it's a principle thing. Remember when Al got together with that awful Ravenclaw girl- what was her name?"

"Jessica? Merlin, that relationship was repugnant and so over the top. Let's hope he learnt his PDA lesson from that and he and Mel will not drive us to suicide!"

"Let's hope so!"

The waitress then arrived to take their order. Smiling sickeningly flirtatiously at Scorpius, she fluttered her eyelashes and asked what they wanted to drink. Rose, trying hard not to laugh at the teenage girl, loudly ordered their standard two chocolate milkshakes, cheesy garlic bread and a large pepperoni pizza to share. Sighing, the waitress reluctantly turned to Rose and scribbled down their order. Grinning triumphantly, Rose all but waved her away.

"Why the forcefulness?" Scorpius asked, completely oblivious of the waitress's reaction to him.

"You are so clueless Scor, she looked at you like she wanted to rip your clothes off and fuck you right here on the table!"

"Don't be silly Rose, she wasn't thinking that!" he said frowning, knowing that he'd feel uncomfortable when she came back with their order.

"She was, Scor. I know she was."

"Really? And how do you know that?" he asked skeptically.

"Because that is exactly what I would do right now if it was socially acceptable to have sex in the middle of a busy restaurant..." she told him, only half jokingly as she stroked his thigh from under the table.

"Well we could always, y'know, leave if that's what you really want..." Scorpius replied, his eyes darkening with desire and trying hard to ignore Rose's touch, not wanting to get too excited in a public place.

"Sorry babe, food comes first, you know that!" she answered, giggling as she quickly removed her hand from his thigh and sat up straight.

"Food does come first, that is true." Scorpius replied thoughtfully, thinking about how happy he was to have a girlfriend who actually liked to eat. His friends, namely Al, had had countless girlfriends who were always on some diet or another, or who refused to eat in front of boys. That had always seemed so strange and so wrong, especially when the girls were dangerously skinny anyway. Rose had never been like that at all, ever since she was about fourteen years old she'd had curves in all the right places and had never been afraid to show her appreciation of the cooking of the Hogwarts house Elves.

About a minute later, the waitress returned with their milkshakes. Again, she looked mostly at a now very uncomfortable looking Scorpius. This made Rose want to laugh, until the waitress went away and both she and Scorpius were distracted by the heavenly taste of chocolate and milk and crushed ice.

"I'm sort of looking forward to showing, because then bitches will look guilty after checking out my man in front of me!" Rose said, once she'd finished about half of her drink.

"I'm 'your man now, am I?" he laughed winking at her. Are you sure it happens at all and does it really bother you?" Scorpius asked, slightly confused as to whether or not Rose felt like she had to compete with the girls who apparently threw themselves at him. There was no competition and he'd thought she knew that.

"It does happen, yeah. Doesn't really bother me though. Besides, they'd probably look away if they knew what an annoying arsehole you really were!"

"Well it goes both ways you know Rose, are you really oblivious to the way blokes look at you when we go out? I mean, you do not want to know some of the barely concealed lewd comments I've unfortunately overheard concerning you!"

"Don't be stupid Scor, I am too round to be desirable! Getting rounder too, before too long!"

"That is true, that is one of the side effects of pregnancy! But Rose, trust me, you are not round you are perfect and you are so fucking desirable I don't know how I got to be so lucky, I mean- I mean just look at you! You are honestly the most stupidly beautiful woman I have ever seen, how can you not see that?!" Scorpius told her, enjoying the way her freckled cheeks blushed when he told her this. She tried to shrug and brush off his compliments in the way she usually did, but today was a particularly emotional day so it took her a little longer than usual to come up with a reply of some kind.

"Well I'm glad you think that because you are stuck with me!" she smiled, sticking her tongue out at him. He smiled, knowing that his words had been well-received really.

"That is great to know Rosie, just know that you're stuck with me too!" he replied, winking and grinning at her.

"Scor, let's stop this nonsense okay? We're behaving like a couple, like a really pukey couple and it's starting to bother me." Rose said, realising that they were behaving in the way she tended to scorn others for behaving.

"Shit, how terrible!" he replied in mock horror, before adding: "You know Rosie, we're in a muggle restaurant, nobody knows us here, we've been together for three years, we have no reputation to uphold and we've just found out we're having a baby. I think we can be soppy for a bit, just for another hour while we enjoy our meal?"

"Okay fine... love you Scorpy-babe!" Rose laughed, always unable to act serious or loving on cue. It was one of the most frustrating and loveable things about her, Scorpius always thought.

"Do you think Mel will be at your mum's with Al?" Scorpius asked, attempting to make conversation and to steer Rose away from her uncomfortable joking.

"Quite likely, yeah. Then again I don't know how public they'll want to be with it just yet- his parents will also be there as well as you, me, James, Caitlyn, Lily, Lily's latest boyfriend, and Hugo. I think Teddy, Vic and Gabi will be there too So yeah, not sure."

"Fuck, your Mum's got a lot of catering to do then! How are James and Caitlyn by the way- I haven't seen either of them since the wedding in March."

"I know, cooking's become one of her hobbies since she left Dad, though. I think it's the way she distracts herself... well Cait wrote to me the other week, said the honeymoon was great and they've made an offer on a new house so standard newlywed shit I imagine!"

"Newlywed shit? I thought newlywed shit was just lots and lots of sex!"

"That too, I'd imagine! Oooh yay- here comes the food!"

Rose and Scorpius both remained silent as their waitress arrived with their order, placing the pizza and garlic bread in between them and bringing with her a jug of water. Scorpius looked away and Rose thanked her almost aggressively.

"Why are you still being mean to her?" he asked Rose once the waitress had walked away.

"I'm not, I'm- ugh!" Rose began to defend herself, but then the scent of garlic hit her and she was overcome by a wave of nausea. She quickly got up and ran to the toilets, leaving Scorpius wondering what to do...

When Rose returned looking very pale and annoyed, the garlic bread was gone.

"Please say you didn't eat the whole thing, because if you have, then no kisses for you!" she said almost weakly, suddenly ravenous as she took a slice of pizza and began to eat.

"No, I sent it away. You might be pleased to know that when she asked why, I told her that the scent of it had my pregnant girlfriend sick and she looked suitably ashamed and couldn't meet my eyes."

"Fabulous. Scor, why have you not started eating yet? This pizza is fucking beautiful!" Rose replied in between bites.

"How can you eat so soon after puking?" he asked, taking a piece of his own and biting into it almost absentmindedly.

"Because I just threw away the entire contents of my stomach and so I am hungry. A quick freshening charm and it's like I was never sick. The garlic's gone so now I'm alright! Bit pissed off that I can't eat or smell garlic now,"

"Maybe our kid's a vampire?"

"That would be so cool! Hey, remember when you thought your grandad was a vampire?"

"The evidence was all there! he was a moody bugger, he never slept, he was a creepy shithead and he only ever seemed to drink red wine which was the colour of blood. Coincidence? I still think not!"


	4. Hermione

"Rose, Scorpius! Great to see you both, come in!" Rose grinned at her mum as she pulled her into a warm hug and breathed in her familiar scent of expensive muggle perfume. Rose stood back as her mother embraced Scorpius and grinned to herself at how her mother genuinely liked her boyfriend.

Hermione led her daughter and her Scorpius into the living room, where most of her guests were already seated. Rose joined Albus on a sofa in the corner and the two began chatting animatedly, while Scorpius chose a seat beside Hugo and immediately joined Hugo and James in discussing sweepstakes for the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. The room was loud and full and Hermione stood back for a few minutes and just observed her family and smiled to herself. It was then with a jolt that she remembered that apart from Rose and Hugo, they weren't really her family, not by blood and not really by marriage for much longer. Sighing, Hermione retreated into her small kitchen and began to pull trays out of the oven carefully, checking that everything was properly cooked. When she was sure that it was just the potatoes that simply needed a few minutes longer, Hermione sat herself at the table and placed her head in her hands.

"What's wrong Hermione?" asked Harry, suddenly entering the kitchen and closing the door behind him, before taking the seat opposite Hermione.

"It's nothing Harry, just that divorce is taxing and I wouldn't recommend it." she replied, looking up and smiling slightly at his concerned face.

"I've heard it is to be avoided, yes. What do you feel you're paying for right now then, in particular?" he asked.

"I just realised I won't be related to any of you any more. Not by marriage or blood, at least. I have Rose and I have Hugo and that is it. Not that they aren't everything to me, but they're grown up now... I mean, Hugo has just one year left of Hogwarts and then he wants to study abroad and Rose has Scorpius and we all know that they have a forever. My children have grown up and my parents are dead, Harry. I don't have much of a family anymore, you know?" Hermione confided in him, her voice shaking slightly.

"For the brightest witch of our time, you are astonishingly stupid sometimes, Hermione. You have a huge family. You have me and I am still your brother in the way I have been ever since we both entered the wizarding world alone. You have Ginny, you know you'll have Ginny and me for life, Hermione. And you have every single other Weasley. You don't stop mattering and you don't stop being family just because you've ended your relationship with one of them, you know. And Rose and Hugo will still need you- I can't explain how horrifically soppy James still is when he comes home every week or so and he got married a few months ago and moved out nearly three years ago! They don't stop being your children just because they're more independent. Just because they don't need physical care or shelter from you in the same way doesn't mean they don't need you just as much emotionally. No matter what you think, Hermione, you are never alone." Harry told her, stroking her hand reassuringly. Hermione smiled weakly, trying not to cry and trying not to tell him the other reason her divorce was hurting her. He seemed to notice there was more, though. She and Harry had always had this kind of bond. He was her brother and he knew her better than anybody.

"There's more though." he simply stated, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Well, I suppose, yes." she said quickly, getting up and removing the now perfectly cooked potatoes from the oven. She didn't say anything more as she began to pull serving spoons from a drawer and started to get the table ready for her twelve guests.

"Hermione..." Harry said, implying that there was a lot more she had to say.

"Harry..." she replied, trying to turn this into a joke and distract him from making her say the thing she really did not want to have to say.

"Hermione, if you don't tell me what else is bothering you, I will get Ginny in here. We all know how merciless Ginny is at interrogation, so I'd advise that you-"

"I still love him, Harry. And you knew I was going to say that so drop all the bullshit, okay? Our marriage was a disaster and we made each other unbelievably unhappy, but I miss having him around the house more than anything! I miss arguing with him and I miss laughing with him and I miss everything about him! The divorce was my idea and it's a mistake I can't take back. Are you happy now, Harry? Are you happy that I've told you what else is bothering me? Because let me tell you, confiding in you hasn't made me feel a whole lot better." Hermione said angrily, blinking back a few tears and turning away from Harry.

"Of course I'm not happy that you're so unhappy, Hermione. It breaks my heart to see the two of you like this, you know?"

"The two of us?"

"He's a complete mess as well. Drinking too much and barely ever even making shitty jokes. Doesn't even have the energy to tease Ginny or laugh with me about the Krum sex scandal... Goes all stiff and silent whenever anyone brings your name up and quickly changes the subject. He still loves you, you know."

"He doesn't, Harry. If he loved me he wouldn't have let me-"

"He let you break up with him because he thought that was what you wanted. He didn't want to make you unhappy and he knew that staying wouldn't put an end to the fighting. He misses you and he loves you more than anything, it's obvious to anybody who sees him. It's obvious to anybody who sees you, Hermione."

"But Harry, what do I-"

"I don't know exactly what you should do, Hermione. But you do. Only you know how you can make this better, whether it's about closure or reunion. I don't know, but I do know that you and Ron can't go on like this forever." Harry told her firmly, before hugging her tightly, offering her a tissue and then helping her finish setting the table.

Feeling oddly calm after her conversation with Harry, Hermione took her seat at the table and began to eat, quietly examining all of the people who sat around her at the large, round table. To her left sat Ginny, tough and beautiful and laughing at something Rose had just said. To Hermione's right sat her son, Hugo was animatedly talking to Teddy about his plans to try and get a place on a wandmaking course in America at the world-renowned 'Academy For Advanced Level Studies In Magic'. Directly opposite Hermione sat Scorpius, laughing with James at Albus's tasteless jokes about the Victor Krum sex scandal which Harry had alluded to earlier. Beside James, Victoire quietly talked to Lily, looking concerned and wide-eyed about something her seventeen year old cousin had just told her. Beside Lily sat Derek, Lil's current boyfriend. Derek was silent and did not join in any of the conversations around him, even when Melody tried to make conversation with him. Cat, James's wife, was listening intently to a story she was being told by Gabby Lupin, who was almost three. Feeling a sudden rush of affection for all of her guests, Hermione grinned at Harry in thanks for his earlier words and began to eat.

It would all be alright. They were her family and she loved them and they loved her and it would all be okay. She and Ron were broken, but she wondered at that moment if they were entirely unfixable. Sighing slightly, she wondered what he was up to now. She missed him. She really and truly missed him. Everything about him. Still, it might not be too late. She had to remember Harry's words. there was always a chance that maybe he felt the same and that maybe, with effort, they could somehow get back what they were all those years ago. Maybe somehow they could try again, maybe they'd be able to fall in love right...

Shaking her head, Hermione shook her thoughts away. No. She couldn't think like that. LIke she'd decided last year, it wouldn't ever work again. They couldn't destroy each other like that again. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. She missed him, but she'd have to work through it. Even if Harry was right, she knew that she and Ron wouldn't make it. It wouldn't happen, and it was time she started accepting that.

In the meantime, she'd just have to be happy that her children were happy, that Rose was strong and clever and brave and beautiful and had found a job that she loved and a man that she loved more than anything. Rose would be alright and Rose would go on to do amazing things. And Hugo? Hugo was fun and athletic and had a great sense of humour, not to mention a vast intellect and a wonderful sense of ambition. He was warm and he was loving and amazing things were coming his way. If nothing else, Hermione had incredible children who she knew would someday and somehow change the world, and maybe that was all she could hope for. As a mother, surely that was the greatest thing.

Perhaps the time for being a wife had passed, so too had the time for being a mother of young children. She was no longer a wife and after losing her parents she was no longer really a daughter, she'd stopped being a granddaughter long ago and she'd never been a niece or a cousin or a sister. But she was still a mother and a godmother and an aunt of sorts. She was a friend and she was a colleague and she still had a lot to offer the world. She had lost the love of her life for good, most likely, but she still had all these other things, she still had potential and she still had ambition and there were amazing things still to happen. She'd be alright. She missed Ron, but she'd be alright.

_**A/N **_**This is only like a mini chapter, I just wanted to get a bit of background in for Rose's family and her parents and events that are to later follow in this story. It will hopefully all start to make sense soon, and I'll be back to writing mainly about Scorpius and Rose next chapter! Please review, any feedback would be so greatly appreciated!**


	5. Scrabble

When two talented writers get together, there are several things you can assume. The first is that their words will be tied to their love, that their love stories and poems and small notes to each other will be beautiful and filled with passion. The second is that a break up or an argument of any kind will end in beautiful, but likely heartbreaking or angry art from both sides. The third and maybe the final assumption is that their arguments must be like those of characters in a novel or play. What is never considered, though, is the deadliness of a scrabble game between these two people of great intellect and a startlingly good vocabulary. Add to this the fact that not only did both Rose and Scorpius have a way with words, but both were terrifyingly competitive and watching the two play scrabble becomes a pretty scary sight.

"L.E.V.I.O.S.A and a double word score, I believe that puts me in the lead!" Rose smirked, putting down the tiles and writing her score on the back of an envelope the two were keeping score on.

"I thought we agreed that spells didn't count- that they had to be English words, so you are, in fact not in the lead yet and you're cheating!" Scorpius responded gleefully, he was usually the one who stretched the rules in this way so it was fun to see Rose doing the same.

"You're going to let me get away with it though, aren't you Scor?" Rose replied challengingly.

"Why the fuck would I do that, Rose?" he asked, baffled.

"Because I can be very persuasive..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That if you give me Levisoa you will be rewarded..." Rose replied, giving him a suggestive look and removing her pyjama top.

"Fuck Rose, please don't do this."

"Do what, Scor? Got a problem with me finishing winning this game topless? It's just soooo hot in here, don't you think?"

"Your seduction is so fucking cliche, Rose. Why does it work?" Scorpius groaned, his eyes fixated on his girlfriend's creamy coloured and perfectly rounded breasts as she moved to sit on his lap.

"It is working, isn't it, Scor? You are going to give me that word and you are going to give me that win and you are going to be rewarded, right babe?" she told him, playing with his hair.

"Yeah, I- No! No, I will not surrender the chance to win for sex! I am better than that, I can beat you at this game, clothed or unclothed..." Scorpius loudly convinced himself, trying to ignore the way Rose was stroking his thigh and the way her bare breasts almost touched his face as she reached up ran her fingers through his hair.

"Who said anything about sex?" she asked him, pretending to sound confused.

"Well what do you-" he asked, before going very quiet as Rose slid off his lap and onto the floor in front of the sofa where both had been sitting, touching the growing bulge in his black jeans then undoing the top button and unzipping them...

"Fuck Rosie, I-"

"Yes?" she asked, stroking him gently and kissing the tip.

"You win. You fucking win, you evil, cheating, manipulative, hot, sexy, irresistible bitch. Leviosa can be a fucking word." he gave in, sounding breathless. Rose grinned to herself slightly as she sucked and licked and kissed until he couldn't take it anymore.

Lying naked in bed together a few hours later, Rose snuggled up to Scorpius.

"Why can't our boardgames ever be innocent? We always end up fucking afterwards." she giggled.

"Well it was your fault this time, bribing me to let you cheat your way to victory with a blow job!" he laughed, kissing her on the cheek and smiling at her triumphant smirk.

"It was too easy, Scor. Your dick is just hardwired to betray you the moment you get a glimpse of my tits. Permanently horny- so primitive!" she laughed, kissing his neck and enjoying the way he sighed the moment her lips came into contact with his flesh.

"You're just as bad, Rose. What about your reaction the moment I do this?" he asked, winking and then reaching down and putting two fingers inside of her. Rose moaned unwillingly at his touch, part of her being annoyed that he had the exact same power over her.

"Don't start something if you're not going to finish it..." she said, biting her lip to prevent herself from making another giveaway sound.

"I have no intention of stopping, don't you worry," he replied, kissing her left breast and seeing her once again attempt to suppress a groan in vain, "you don't need to be quiet for me, Rosie, you know that." he whispered huskily, loving that he was making her feel this way.

* * *

The next morning, Scorpius was rudely awoken by the curtains being suddenly drawn, filling the room with late July morning sunlight before being leaped on by a very noisy and excited Rose who was wearing pyjamas and was covered in flour:

"Wake up Scor! We have a big day ahead of us before you abandon me tomorrow!" she shouted, hitting him with a pillow. Blinking in the sudden light, he yawned and grabbed hold of Rose, pulling her back under the covers with him.

"Five more minutes.." he murmured, burying his face in her hair and closing his eyes.

"How about no?" she laughed, pulling the duvet off them both and trying to drag him out of bed.

"Why not?" he asked sulkily, trying in vain to snatch the duvet back.

"Because I am making pancakes and because we're seeing our baby today and because you need to do what I say to make up for leaving me for a week and a bit!" she responded, grinning at him and pouting at him playfully.

"You're cooking?!" he asked, alarmed. Suddenly, he was awake!

"I am." she replied defiantly.

"Rosie, do we really want another fire?" he asked, wishing he was joking.

"That's only happened a few times, Scor, and if you never give me the chance to cook, how will I ever learn to not burn the kitchen down?"

"I just don't think it's worth the risk..." he said, pulling himself properly out of bed and pulling on some pyjama bottoms.

"Fine, get out of bed and make the fucking pancakes yourself then!" she said sweetly, "Meanwhile, I will shower and expect to see a wonderful pancake breakfast on the table in fifteen minutes time." she grinned, kissed him on the cheek and took her pyjamas off, wandering naked into the bathroom.

Rose had made a complete mess in the kitchen just making the pancake batter and Scorpius sighed as he quickly cleared up the room using his wand. No matter how hard he tried to show her, Rose had never been able to master household spells. Sometimes he teased her about it, but it was one of the things he loved most about her: she was a scarily powerful witch who had no clue how to make scrambled eggs on toast, with or without magic.

Surprisingly, Rose's batter had only needed a little tweaking and, singing to himself under his breath, Scorpius began to make the pancakes.

Ten minutes later, Rose entered the kitchen looking pristinely clean and wearing nothing but one of Scorpius's T-shirts. She sat down and started drinking the tea he'd just made for her from her Hello Kitty mug and gave him a glowing smile.

"You couldn't wear your own clothes why?" Scorpius asked, grinning at her as he finished making the pancakes and placed the serving platter in the middle of their small round table, before sitting down opposite her.

Taking a pancake and sprinkling it liberally with sugar, Rose laughed and told Scorpius:

"Because I can't be bothered to get dressed yet and there's a bit of puke on my dressing gown from the other morning and I wasn't sure where my wand was so I couldn't clean it off."

"Lovely. Hey, you haven't thrown up for a few days now have you?" the couple were now so used to Rose's frequent bursts of sickness that they didn't bat an eyelid when discussing matters such as this over food.

"Nope. I think it's because I've reached the end of the sicky first trimester, thank Merlin!" she laughed, "These pancakes are great by the way Scor, can I take any credit?"

"You can take a bit- your batter wasn't too horrific!"

"Yay! Achievement in the kitchen for Rose Weasley!"

"Congratulations babe!" he laughed, the two of them then enjoyed their breakfast in a comfortable near silence.

Rose and Scorpius took seats in the crowded waiting room with five minutes to spare for their scheduled appointment. After a minute of waiting, Rose sighed and shook Scorpius's arm off her shoulder.

"I hate waiting." Rose complained

"So does everybody."

"Stop trying to universalise my pain!"

"Stop telling me what to do!"

"I'm bored, you haven't brought me a colouring book or anything by any chance have you?" she asked hopefully, not really caring that she was nineteen and not nine.

"Where would I keep a colouring book, babe? You're the one with the unnecessarily large bag!" he laughed, knowing that she'd remember to put a colouring book in her bag for next time.

"I don't know- you're good at spells!" she replied, grinning at him.

"So are you- why do you have it in your head that you aren't? You're honestly the most scarily gifted witch I've ever encountered!" was his response, it had always bewildered him how little credit she gave herself.

"Yeah, but I can do all the fancy stuff you don't need in the real world- like I can duel up to six people at once, but I can't do the useful shit like getting stains out of fabric, or effective cleaning spells or cooking spells. I can heal and I can battle but I can't do the stuff that you proper witches and wizards can do!" she pointed out.

"You're incredible Rosie."

"Stop it, Scor. I mean it, you've been so nice to me the last few weeks and we're both so happy and I know it will all have to end soon and I really don't want it to and-" Scorpius cut her off, shaking his head and looking carefully at Rose, before speaking.

"No, Rose. It doesn't have to end. We've been through this, I've erm always wanted it to be this way, I just thought you- I just thought it was you who wanted the err fighting and stuff. You know I'm soft as fuck, really. And you know that you're my everything. It doesn't have to stop being like this. Shit, I sound like I'm from a fucking film, but yeah. I love you and I want to be with you and I will always treat you with care and love and respect and I will always find you incredible and beautiful and hilarious because you are and because I love you, okay?" he told her gently, stuttering slightly.

"Scor, don't say beautiful shit like that to me! You're about to make viewing our baby even more emotional!" she tried to tell him off, trying to subtly wipe a tear away. Kissing him on the cheek, she quietly whispered "I love you." into his ear.

The couple then sat in silence until they were called in for their appointment. Both stood up, Rose took Scorpius's hand and held it tightly and the two walked into the healer's office. It was Healer Bones again, and she greeted the couple warmly as they took their seats.

When Healer Bones put her wand to Rose's stomach and projected images of their baby onto a large screen, the two of them were left speechless. They held onto each other tightly as they watched their child move around inside Rose on the screen.

"So safe still..." Rose reflected, feeling a sudden rush of regret that the baby would be pushed out into the real world in less than six months time. Scorpius seemed to guess what was going on in her head, so he kissed her forehead and told her:

"Our child will be safe even when we bring him or her into the world. We won't be our parents, Rosie. I promise." she simply nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.

They wouldn't be their parents. They couldn't be their parents. They would love each other and they would be good to each other and they would make sure their child knew what it meant to be happy and safe and stable. They would make sure that their child knew how much their parents loved them. They wouldn't allow themselves to lose sight of the fact that they needed each other and they loved each other. Their child would never feel ignored in the way that Rose had when her parents were too busy shouting at each other to notice that their six year old had grazed her knee and just needed her mummy and daddy to kiss it better. Their child would never feel like it wasn't wanted, like Scorpius had when he'd cried himself to sleep most nights when he was four and his father had ignored him and his mother had just told him to be quiet. Their child would be loved and noticed and wanted and they would be the parents they'd both needed to have.

_**A/N Please review and let me know what you think! I am so grateful to those who have done so already, but I can't explain how much I would love to get more feedback from more people! Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know this story is pretty fluffy at the moment, but it won't be this way for a lot longer unfortunately. A lot of angst and drama to come! Anyway, let me know what you think so far and if you have any predictions of what might happen, or things you want to happen! Just say anything- I just want to know what people think of this story. Reviews often mean quicker updates too... *hint hint***_


	6. Sad and Bad News

"Okay so when do we start to tell people?" Scorpius asked Rose, picking up the photograph of their child once again and grinning at the way it wriggled around slightly. The couple had been home from their appointment with the healer for a few hours now and were cuddled up together on the sofa, half watching TV and half chatting and joking and laughing and kissing. Rose scrunched up her face in concentration, not sure of when they should start telling people.

"I guess maybe when it becomes obvious, like at the moment I'm a little flabbier in the belly area but before too long it will look round and bumplike and it will be very clear that the Malfoy heir is on the way!" she replied, stroking her ever so slightly larger stomach.

"Hmm, the Malfoy heir does have a rather interesting ring to it..."  
"Yeah, I know- can't wait to be asked if I'm carrying a prince or princess!" she laughed, putting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"Which do you think it is?" Scorpius asked inquisitively.

"I have no idea whatsoever. I'd hoped that I'd have some kind of motherly intuition and know the gender just like that but unfortunately not!" was Rose's reply, before she yawned twice and moved so that her Scorpius pillow was extra comfortable and then fell asleep.

Scorpius smiled at his sleeping girlfriend and looked at the time. It was seven and neither of them had eaten since lunch. Deciding it would be best not to disturb Rose for another hour or so, he turned his attention to the TV, watching a very interesting and yet dull reality show where muggles hosted dinner parties for strangers and then had the strangers score them. Just as the show was finishing, Rose began to stir. Yawning widely, she sat up and stretched.

"What time is it?" she asked through another yawn.

"Almost eight- shall I make us some food?" he replied, preparing to get up.

"Perfect. I'm dying of starvation over here!" she exclaimed, over-dramatic as ever. Scorpius gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and wandered off into the kitchen, planning on making them some macaroni cheese.

* * *

Scorpius's alarm clock went off at seven in the morning. Yawning, he sighed and groaned at the thought of having to get up. The bed was warm and soft and so was the beautiful girl who lay fast asleep beside him as she whispered inaudibly in her sleep. He did not want to get out of bed and he did not want to leave the flat and he did not want to go away for the next ten days to some awful convention and buying trip for the Ministry.

He had to, though, so he grudgingly pulled himself out of bed and into the bathroom where he showered until he was awake enough to function properly.

Once he was showered and dressed in one of his dull work suits, Scorpius went into the kitchen to make cups of tea for himself and Rose. As he hurried the boiling of the kettle with a quick spell, Scorpius picked up the picture of their future child once again, smiling at the way it seemed to practically wave at him. When the tea was made, Scorpius carried both mugs into the bedroom. He placed the tea on the bedside tables and sat beside Rose on the bed and woke her up with a kiss.

"Is it morning already?" she asked with a yawn.

"Unfortunately yes, I'll be leaving in an hour and you have work in two hours." he said, pouting like a child as he held her close to him.

"I don't want you to go," she told him with an identical pout.

"Neither do I. My boss does want me to go, though."

"I don't like your boss."

"My boss is your Uncle Percy."

"Don't care. He's mean for sending you away."

"Agreed." he nodded, passing Rose her tea and then taking a sip of his own.

* * *

Rose couldn't help but think the flat was horribly quiet without him. Usually he'd be badly singing along to the wireless in the kitchen, or guessing what was about to happen aloud in whatever TV program they were watching, or asking her constant questions she didn't have the energy to answer. Scorpius was a bundle of noisy energy most of the time and Rose was sad that she wouldn't be able to get vaguely annoyed at his silly little habits for over a week. She'd only been home from work a few hours and he'd only left that morning, but she missed him already. Sighing, Rose made herself a cup of coffee and settled down with a book, hoping to absorb herself in the silly muggle romance novel until it was time for her to make herself a disappointing and probably at least slightly burnt meal. She was surprised at how quickly she got into this novel, however, usually it took a long time for her to get into stories and she'd usually roll her eyes whenever the author mentioned love or the characters acted soppily. Sighing in resignation, Rose realised that this was yet another side effect that had come with having finally admitted how real her love for Scorpius was and how happy she was for a forever. Cynical Rose was a distant memory and Romantic Rose missed her a bit.

Her meal was, as she'd predicted, disappointing. She didn't know why she was so terrible at cooking, it was something she thought required a lot of practice but she practiced fairly regularly despite Scorpius's protests and panics about fires and yet she still hadn't even grasped the concept of making scrambled eggs and not burning them to the bottom of the pan. Even pasta was a challenge, so was heating up tinned soup.

As she chewed on the ready meal she'd somehow overcooked, Rose picked up Scorpius's magical cookbook and sighed at the spells that were simple to everybody except her. Shaking her head, Rose started thinking about Scorpius again. She missed him, not just his cooking. She loved him so much. Too much, really.

* * *

On the last day of Scorpius's absence, Rose dragged herself out of bed at the sound of her alarm clock and got ready for work in silence, frowning in annoyance at how her trainee healer's robes were beginning to get a little tight around her now slightly rounded tummy. She'd have to get someone to put a subtle expansion spell on them for her soon. Frowning, she realised that she now did look a bit pregnant and not just like she'd put on a bit of weight and so would have to soon start telling people. It was a shame- she liked that only she and Scorpius knew about the baby, it was nice having such a lovely secret just between the two of them and she knew everybody would be sceptical about them being young parents, them being unmarried and the usual raised eyebrows about the Weasley-Malfoy union.

As she ate her cereal at the kitchen table, two owls came flying in through the window each carrying letters. One was a note from Scorpius, telling her he'd be home at about nine that night. The other was a brisk note from her mother, inviting her for dinner at six that night. Smiling at the thought that she wouldn't have to cook for herself, Rose scribbled a note back saying she'd be there.

That day was Rose's last official day of training at work. After overseeing the delivery of a set of twins at eleven in the morning, Rose became a certified healer with a specialisation in midwifery. Rose was too happy to care that many of her co-workers were quite obviously looking at her almost obvious baby bump and not very subtly whispering about it. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face and wanted so badly to see Scorpius and celebrate the end of paid training and the start of her proper job at the hospital.

The nature of her job also made her all the more excited for the birth of her own baby in five months time. The strangest thing, Rose couldn't help but think, was the fact that throughout all of her midwifery training she'd been fascinated but detached; she'd been interested and determined to do her job well and to help women safely deliver their babies, but never once had she even thought about having her own. That was weird. That was really weird.

She and Scorpius had discussed the idea of starting a family just twice up until the day they found out they were going to be parents for real. Both of those discussions had been fairly angry and both came about as a result of pregnancy scares. The first time had been around halfway through their Sixth Year when her period was nearly a month late, making her anxious and then furious at him. They'd both been terrified and when her period appeared a few days later, they'd spent the night in the kitchens joyously eating chocolate cake and laughing about how they'd be shitty parents so it was a lucky escape. The second time had been about a year ago, just after they'd moved into their flat together and had consisted of Rose realising she was a few weeks late, getting angry and scared and shouting a bit, before going to the loo and realising that she was not pregnant after all and dancing happily on the spot before yelling at Scorpius to go on a chocolate and tampon run.

It was odd how much things could change in a year, it was strange how much she and Scorpius had changed in a year. They'd changed together though, matured together. And, as a result, they were now both completely ready to welcome this next stage of their lives together. Rose absentmindedly stroked her belly and knew from that moment on that there was no going back now. Her co-workers would now have definitely worked out that she was having a baby but now she really didn't care.

As she got to work cleaning equipment by magic and gossiping with Tilda, another midwife, about the changes in hospital management, Rose thought about how she now knew for sure that they'd have to start telling people about the baby very soon and hoped that it wasn't yet obvious enough for her mother to pick up on at dinner tonight as she wanted Scorpius there when she broke the news, his mistimed jokes often made awkwardness more bearable for her.

* * *

"Rose darling, come in!" Rose's mother greeted her more enthusiastically than normal, giving her a strange and not very real smile and a hug that lasted longer than was normal. Rose smiled and followed her mother into her kitchen feeling that something was definitely not quite right. Her suspicions were confirmed when she entered the room and saw not just Hugo sitting at the table. Her father was there too, which was incredibly odd given that her parents had separated over six months ago and had viciously each seemed to avoid the subject of the other.

"Hello Rosie," he greeted her, giving his usual comforting smile except that it didn't fully reach the twinkling blue eyes she'd inherited from him.

"Hi Dad," she replied hesitantly as she gave Hugo a look, hoping he'd offer an answer as to why their their father was at their mother's home. He just shrugged and gave her a doubtful look, clearly knowing no more than she did. It was then that their mother joined them at the table and took a deep breath before looking down, as though she'd been about to speak but had then reconsidered it. This happened another three times in the next five minutes as the four of them sat at the table in an uncomfortable silence. Deciding someone had to say something, Rose rolled her eyes and spoke up:

"Mum? Dad? What's going on?" she asked, deciding she may as well be direct about it.

"Um, well I don't know how to tell you this but- er Ron, how do you think we should explain this?" she replied, looking straight at her supposedly ex-husband and taking his hand.

"Wait? Are you back together?" Hugo asked.

"We are, sort of, but that's not what I- we need to talk to you about-" their mother replied, a look of sadness spreading across her face as she shook her head and waited for their father to take the lead.

"We have some sad and bad news..." he began.

"Well, I do. It's me, not your father really but..." she trailed off and ran a hand through her wilder than usual hair and shook her head before continuing, "I'm ill. I have cancer, which is a disease more common in muggles and- well it doesn't really matter what it is because the long and short of it is- well I've been told I only have four months left to live." she finished in a rush before turning back to face her children. Hugo trembled slightly and tried to suppress a sob before shaking his head and leaving the table. Ron got up and followed him, leaving just Rose and Hermione at the table. Unsure of her thoughts and feelings and unsure of what she ought to do or say, Rose looked carefully at her mother and, channelling her inner Scorpius, decided the only thing to do would be to ask relatively unrelated questions until she could formulate a decent response.

"So when did you and Dad get back together?" she asked her, deciding to avoid the bigger news for the time being.

"Last week. I got my test results and the healer gave me the news and well, I just knew he had to be the first person I told. So I told him and we talked and we talked all night and we talked about the things we'd always avoided- things we should have discussed years ago. And it all became so clear to me that I couldn't just pretend I didn't love him anymore. My life is too short to deny myself time with your father because I love him more than anything," she paused and reached across the table and took Rose's hand, "and he loves me too and I do feel sort of horrible about reuniting with him only to leave him for good far sooner than I wish to... and part of me feels awful that he'll end up watching me die, but I just love him and I can't be without him." she said sadly, shaking her head slightly. Rose wasn't sure how to respond to this, except to tell her mum what really came to mind when she heard her words:

"That's how I feel about Scorpius. For ages we stepped around each other and tried to keep it fiery and fighty and not too real, you know? Love was scary so we thought we were ignoring it but somehow it happened anyway. We only realised that recently and I don't know why I'm telling you this now but I just want you to know that I understand how you feel, but also that I blame you and Dad for making love so hard to believe in."

"Rose, I-"

"And I just now realised how harsh saying that was and I'm sorry, I just don't want to talk about what you really just told me and I don't want to be sad but I-" Rose said all of this in a rush and choked on a sob at the end. Her mother got up from her seat and wrapped her daughter in a close embrace.

"You don't need to say anything if you don't want to darling. I need to tell you how sorry I am though, and how glad I am that you found Scorpius and that you're past being ruined by the mistakes of myself and your father. I love you so much and I'm so proud of everything you are and everything you've achieved in your life already. I'm so sorry that you had to hear my horrible prognosis and I'm so sorry that I'm not going to be there to see you become increasingly more incredible. I'm just sorry I failed you so much as a mother, I've been thinking about that a lot recently and I know I should have spent more time with you and less with work and arguing with your father. I love you Rose and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I won't be there for the important things and, that I'll never see you marry or have children or-" Hermione spoke quietly into her daughter's ear and kissed her on the cheek before pullling back slightly and looking at her carefully when Rose stiffened slightly at the mention of children. She was beautiful, having somehow managed to inherit all the best things about her mother and her father and as Hermione looked into Rose's slightly teary blue eyes, at her curly red hair and soft facial features covered with a smattering of freckles, she couldn't help but think that something ahd changed; Rose looked different. Not different in a bad way, just not the way she had ever really looked before.  
Maybe it wasn't in her look so much as it was in her persona, in her being. Either way, Hermione couldn't help but think her daughter looked softer, perhaps. She also seemed to glow just a little, as though despite the tragic news there was something special happening. Hermione had often looked at her daughter and wondered if she was truly happy, truly satisfied and only now was she certain that in spite of what she'd been told just minutes earlier, her daughter was happier and more peaceful than she had been in a long time. It was then that she looked closer at Rose, examining her outfit and the way she seemed to hold herself. Rose wore a floral dress which floated naturally to the floor, she held herself carefully but twiddled her fingers erratically, as though she knew she was being watched and there was a pattern of behaviour she was trying to avoid. Hermione had always been good at analysing people carefully, at understanding them with just one look, but too often she'd forgotten to practice this skill on her only daughter. Rose at this moment looked like she was holding back from saying something and as she thought about how to find out what her daughter wasn't saying, Hermione's eyes drifted to where Rose's arm was now suddenly resting- her stomach.

Hermione's perfect vision and powers of deduction immediately came into play at this point and she noticed the way Rose's dress was stretched ever so slightly tighter over her tummy... Pregnancy? That would explain the glow and the slight self-consciousness as well as the slight softness in her expression and the way she'd reacted to the mention of children. Deciding she may as well ask and hoping that she was right and not about to offend her, Hermione asked the question she'd never anticipated answering in her final months of life:

"Rose, are you... pregnant?" she asked hesitantly, carefully observing her reaction to this question. Rose's eyes widened and she put her other hand to her stomach and nodded slightly.

"I'm almost fifteen weeks, yeah." she replied quietly, looking away.

"And that's good news, right?" asked her mother, reaching down to her shorter daughter and stroking her cheek.

"It is, me and Scor are unbelievably happy about it. But your news is really not good and when the baby's born you won't- you won't be there and you won't meet your grandchild!" Rose then burst into the tears she knew were unavoidable and she was once again enveloped in her mothers arms. The two of them stayed like that for a while, stayed close until a very subdued Ron and Hugo entered the room and went about making sandwiches for everybody. Rose whispered to her mother not to say anything to anyone just yet and Hermione simply nodded. Rose then got up to go to the toilet and after washing her hands took a deep breath and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, telling herself to hold it together at least until she got home.

As promised, Scorpius arrived back home at around 9 PM. As he entered the flat he knew something was wrong- all the lights were off and Rose usually made a point of having every light on in every room until she went to sleep or left the flat, he'd never known or understood why and had stopped questioning or even noticing it. As a result, it was odd to know that Rose was at home and had not gone about her usual light switching patrol. Switching on the hall light, Scorpius called out for her and he heard a muffled response coming from the bedroom. Entering their bedroom, Scorpius turned on a lamp with his wand and joined a sobbing Rose on the bed. She curled up to him and he pulled her close, stroking her hair until she calmed down enough to speak and tell him what was wrong. It was terrifying to see Rose looking so broken and Scorpius would have done anything at all at that moment to take away some of her pain. Eventually, Rose spoke;

"The good news is that my parents are back together in time for my mum's funeral which should be held at some time in November. The bad news is that our baby will be one grandma short of a perfectly dysfunctional set of four grandparents." she spoke clearly, trying to make some kind of a joke out of it. Scorpius shot her a questioning look and stroked her arm and noticed that she was freezing cold, she then elaborated, "My mum is ill and will die in about four months time. Her condition is terminal and there is nothing healers or muggle doctors can do." Rose told him, before crying again.  
He held her close and pulled the covers over them, knowing that they'd have to wait until the tears stopped and he didn't want her to be cold. The crying stopped at about one in the morning and Rose's breathing began to become more regular. Just before she closed her eyes and went to sleep, she whispered to Scorpius that she loved him and he told her he loved her too.

With that, the couple held hands and drifted to sleep together, both hoping that tomorrow would be brighter.


	7. Surprises, Fancy Dresses and Ice Cream

"Wow, when are we to expect this new arrival?" Astoria asked Rose and Scorpius, her smile wide. Surprised at how happy Scorpius's usually reserved and almost hostile mother was at the news, Rose hesitantly smiled back while Scorpius replied.

"The baby's official due date is the 30th of December, so around then I suppose." he told his mother.

"Ohmygoodness I'm so happy for you both! We're far too young to be grandparents though, don't you think Draco?" Astoria gushed, grinning at her bemused son and his girlfriend before turning to her husband.

"Of course we are, Tori. One might say that these two are far too young to be parents too, but I somehow feel oddly confident in their abilities to not fuck their child up as skillfully as we did. Sorry about that, by the way, son, you do seem to have overcome it awfully well I must add." Draco said loudly, surprising everyone else in the room with his sudden rambling outburst.

"Well that's great Dad, but um, why are you being weird?" Scorpius replied, raising an eyebrow at his father's strange behaviour.

"Weird? What are you talking about?"

"Dad, you make a point to never ever mention the past and last I remember, you and Mum barely tolerated each other, so what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"Your mother and I got into an accident a few months ago, a dangerous one, and we both came out of it okay but it left us with the realisation that we do love each other really, a lot. It may have taken twenty one years of a bad marriage to get to this point, but this is where we are now and um, this is where we plan on staying." Draco replied, looking tenderly at his wife as she looked back with a similarly soppy smile.

"Well congratulations to you both!" Rose smiled, speaking properly for the first time since arriving at Malfoy manor and telling Scorpius's parents about their baby. "Wow, it really seems like parents are all about the reconciliation lately right Scor?" she remarked, Rose had never been afraid of being outspoken in front of her boyfriend's parents, in fact she got on better with them than she did her own parents although admittedly that said very little.

"It does, yeah. But Mum, Dad, what was this accident?" Scorpius asked, concerned. It was fair to say that he and his parents had severe communication issues given that they hadn't even known about his relationship with Rose until his seventh year, when they'd been together for four years already. He and his parents weren't especially close and this was the first time he'd seen them in months.

Astoria shifted slightly in her seat and exchanged a concerned look with her husband, it appeared that neither knew exactly how much to tell their son about whatever this accident was. Swallowing and then biting her lip, she took a deep breath and turned to properly face her son and Rose before telling the story:

"We were on holiday in Brazil attending a charity gala and we ran into some of your grandfather's ex allies, from the war."

"It's fine to say Death Eaters, you know Astoria, Scorpius is nearly twenty now." Draco interrupted, half smiling at the way his wife still tried in vain to protect their child who was no longer a child.

"True. Anyway, yeah, they didn't love us much and it was quite scary and dangerous and we're lucky to be alive. But that's over now, and what matters is that we're happy together now and we um have some news for you two as well..." Astoria finished quickly before trailing off, looking oddly nervous.

"I'm so glad you both are okay!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"So am I, but what's the news?" Scorpius asked, uncharacteristically wanting to get straight to the point.

"Erm, this might be a bit weird for you, but at around a month old your baby will become an aunt or uncle." Astoria said sheepishly, looking first at Scorpius and then at Rose. Rose grinned and hugged Scorpius's mother, Scorpius looked on in shock at both of his parents.

"But you're old!" he exclaimed, not caring how childish he sounded or that Rose was laughing at him.

"Scor, your mum's only forty two and you know that witches can carry on having children easily well into their fifties, often later." Rose said, rolling her eyes. At this, Scorpius saw the funny side and turned it into one of his usual bad jokes that weren't really jokes and were generally just not-funny comments.

"Does that mean we'll be having children until we're well into our fifties then, Rose? You know, if we have one every two years, we'll have around fifteen, probably more as chances are there'll probs be some multiple births too." he said, laughing to himself as Rose groaned and shook her head.

"One's enough for now, Scor. Maybe forever, too." she replied, stroking her stomach once before turning to Astoria and talking excitedly about babies.

Scorpius exchanged a glance with his father, who looked younger than he'd looked in years. He was glad for his parents, he really was. It was just that a part of him did ever so slightly resent that they'd only now decided to be in love, he knew love wasn't actually a choice, but regardless, it might have been nice to have had the loving parents his unborn sibling was likely to have. He sighed slightly to himself, before turning his attention to his girlfriend on the other side of the room as she lounged on the sofa with his mother and the two talked and laughed and looked genuinely happy. It was strange, he couldn't help but think, as he'd rarely seen his mother happy and this was the first time she'd seemed almost happy in the last week, ever since she found out about her mum. It was sort of nice how the two were bonding, they were at present the two most important women in his life, although his mum might lose her second place position and Rose might have to share the first if their baby turned out to be a girl. He smiled to himself as he wondered if they were having a boy or girl, then he looked across the room just as Rose gave him the warm smile he'd missed seeing and gestured for him to come over and join them. He was at that moment struck by the ridiculous amount of love he had for her and for their child and when he'd crossed the room to join her, he quickly kissed her forehead and held her for a few seconds, ignoring their unspoken rule from years back about not really touching in front of parents.

* * *

"Stop looking at me like that Scor, I'm fine!" Rose exclaimed with a small smile, before kissing Scorpius gently on the cheek to show him how much she appreciated his concern really.

Scorpius looked carefully at his girlfriend and knew that for the first time in the last few weeks, she wasn't lying. She looked okay, he supposed. Beautiful as always, but she'd lost that slightly defeated look she'd been wearing in the weeks since she'd heard about her mother's illness. She wasn't entirely fine, she didn't twinkle in quite the same way she had that morning he'd left for his Ministry trip, but her shine had returned and soon he hoped she'd be sparkling again. He wasn't certain when that would be, or if she'd shine the same way she always had done, but he knew she was stronger than anything life could throw at her and that nothing would ever stop her from being the warm, glittering person she always had been. He was pleased, however, that finally she was letting him in. Rose had been through a few too many sad events in her life, but this was the first time she'd allowed Scorpius to be there for her, and part of him hoped that his support had helped her and would help her in some way.

"I know you are, doesn't mean I can't worry." he said with a smile, kissing her forehead.

"I know and I appreciate it, you know I wouldn't be this okay if I didn't have you, though." she told him, pulling him into a cuddle. He grinned into her hair and held her tightly, happier than he'd admit that she felt glad of his presence. Rose relaxed into Scorpius's embrace, before moving slightly so that she could stand on her tiptoes and kiss him passionately. He responded enthusiastically, causing her to cling onto him even tighter than usual. After very slowly pulling away, Rose gently kissed his cheek before whispering to him that she loved him, before dragging him onto the sofa with her so that they could cuddle some more.

After a few minutes of just lying on the sofa all curled around Scorpius, Rose reached over to the coffee table to grab the TV remote to find something for the pair of them to watch. The couple enjoyed superhero films most of all and grinned when Rose found a channel that was showing one neither of them had gotten round to seeing yet. However, just when she was about to turn up the volume to start watching it properly, she noticed the date and time on the TV and looked questionably at Scorpius, who gave her a puzzled look back.

"What's up Rose?"

"Don't you have that Ministry Ball thing tonight?" she asked, turning around so that she was facing him properly.

"Yeah, but I'd rather stay with you and I didn't really think you'd want to go out given how shitty things are," he replied and she nodded slowly, seeing the logic in his decision making but deciding enough was enough.

"Scor, I can handle it all okay now, it's been almost a month and I've come to terms with it all mostly now." she said firmly, only really knowing the truth in her words as she spoke them.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel-"

"I'll be fine, Scor. Anyway, what better time to confirm the pregnancy rumours than at the twenty week mark?" said Rose, cutting off her cute and concerned boyfriend.

"It makes sense I suppose, but if you feel sad or ill or anything, just say and we'll go home, okay Rosie?" Scorpius replied, looking carefully at her and kissing her on the cheek.

"Cool, now we have half an hour to prepare for this thing." Rose said seriously.

"What do you mean, it's just a little thing-"

"Scor, it's one of the biggest events of the year, it's a huge deal. Do you remember when we went last year and the press would not fucking get over the fact that the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger was with Draco Malfoy's son? Given that said surprise couple are now quite obviously expecting the first verified half blood in the Malfoy line in centuries, do you really think it will just be little? No, we need to look super hot because attention is unavoidable." Rose told him, laughing slightly at his cluelessness. The couple hadn't really been out in public at all in the last month apart from at work, having stuck to simply visiting family and friends or receiving visitors at their flat.

All of their friends and family now knew about the baby and the couple had been surprised by the amount of support they'd received from the relatives who'd been so odd about them as a couple at first. They'd put it down mostly to the fact that Rose's mother's terminal illness had put everything into perspective and everyone had clung onto this beautiful piece of good news partly to make it all more bearable. Scorpius's parents had been possibly even more supportive than the Weasleys, although that was maybe more likely because of their renewed love and the baby that they too were expecting.

"Okay, got it. What is on my list of errands then, Mistress Rosie?" Scorpius asked playfully, sinking to his knees and doing his famous house elf impression which Rose knew was very politically incorrect but found hilarious regardless.

"You need to go out and buy some ice cream for when we get home, then you need to take a quick shower before dressing yourself in your fancy dress robes, before telling me I look hot in whichever dress I pick, okay?" Rose told him, smiling sweetly and tapping him on the head as he remained on the floor being a house elf.

Once Scorpius had left for the Muggle newsagents just a few roads down, Rose skipped across the flat to take a shower, singing slightly under her breath as she removed her clothes and switched the water on. Rose simply stood underneath the water for a minute or so before beginning to rub her strawberry scented shower gel all over her body, she paused when she reached her stomach, gently stroking it and marvelling at how much her baby must have grown in the last month. Semi unconsciously, Rose began to whisper to the unborn child, she didn't say a lot and it didn't all make a lot of sense, but there was just something so special about the moment that made a lot of the hurt she'd been feeling over the last month go away. It was then that for the first time, Rose felt the baby begin to move properly, kicking at her hand ever so slightly. She'd felt the baby move before, but it had only been a light and fluttery sensation, now it was like the baby was really communicating with her properly. Smiling more than she had done in the last few weeks, Rose continued to caress her stomach and to whisper to her twenty week old unborn baby, completely losing track of time and the moment.

Five minutes later, Rose was pulled from her warm thoughts and feelings of her child when Scorpius entered the bathroom, Rose grinned at him and gestured for him to join her in the shower. Shrugging slightly and raising an eyebrow, he removed his clothes and did a she was told. Once he was in the large shower stall with her, Rose kissed him hard on the lips before taking his hand and moving it to her stomach, hoping the baby would kick for his or her daddy now. There was no movement until Scorpius spoke in a whisper, before falling silent once he felt the baby move slightly. He looked in wonder at Rose and her expression moved him almost to tears and he was overcome with how much he loved his girlfriend and the baby she was carrying. For just another five minutes, nothing else mattered as the couple held each other close beneath the running hot water, neither saying much but both feeling something more than they'd be able to put into words when later recalling the event.

Rose and Scorpius were almost late for the Ministry Ball, but had managed to get themselves ready just on time. Rose had ended up wearing a long strapless green dress which hugged her curves and emphasised her perfectly rounded baby bump, having decided that no matter what she wore the pregnancy would be obvious and that if there was going to be a whole load of attention on the unborn Weasley-Malfoy baby, the bump ought to be dressed as nicely as possible. Scorpius was wearing simple but fancy black dress robes and the couple looked perfect when standing together in front of the mirror.

"We look hot, Scor, let's get going!" Rose grinned excitedly, taking his hand and dragging him to the door.

"You're forgetting something, Rosie, I need to tell you how beautiful you look." he said with a huge smile, putting an arm around her.

"Go on then, handsome!" she winked and laughed.

"You look so beautiful tonight, Rose Weasley, and it makes me sad that I'll have to share you tonight." he told her, kissing her hand before taking it.

"I'm all yours, Scor, as gross and cheesy as that sounds." she said, rolling her eyes a little at the romantic shit that kept falling off her tongue.

"And I'm all yours, Rosie." he replied, before the two exited the flat and left to go to the ball.

* * *

As predicted, the couple received more than their fair share of attention once there, mostly positive. A few of the questions asked had been rather pointed, with raised eyebrows at their age and unmarried status, but people had been pretty supportive, bit nosey though- her body was her business and the baby inside it was her child. She'd always found the media's obsession with pregnancy a bit weird and found it especially weird how much the photographers had focused on her bump. She was more than just a container for a baby who would, unfortunately, make history, but that wasn't the way people seemed to view her all of a sudden.

Still, as she lay in bed that night after having swapped her dress for her pyjamas and had eaten what may have been her weight in ice cream, Rose felt happier and more peaceful than she'd thought she would feel after an evening of unspontaneous dancing (the worst kind, in Rose's opinion) and annoying stares. She felt oddly content as well, it was as though a lot of the sadness she'd been feeling over the last month had lost its depth almost. She didn't know if that was a terrible thing to say or think, though, this was her mum she was talking about and she was feeling less broken up about her mum's impending death. That was awful, wasn't it. Rose quickly sat up in the bed and switched the main light on as well as her bedside lamp. She sat still and silent and tried to stop thinking, hoping that Scorpius would finish cleaning his teeth and join her in bed as soon as possible.

As though he'd somehow heard that thought, Scorpius emerged from the en suite and, seeing the sad and scared expression on his girlfriend's face. moved quickly to her side. Rose said nothing as Scorpius sat beside her on the bed, pulling her into his arms and gently stroking her up and down her spine. He kissed her forehead and shifted so that they could see into each other's eyes before she began to speak, to explain herself:

"I feel happy and excited and I love you and everyone else so so much, but now I feel awful. Because of my mum, Scor. I'm a horrible daughter and I shouldn't be so happy now, I should be sad all the time and I should be, I should be not like this, you know?" she said quietly, looking away.

"Rose, you need to understand that it's okay to be okay as well, you don't have to be in pieces over your Mum to be a good daughter, you can love her and see her and enjoy the time you have left with her and you don't have to be sad all the time. It's okay to get excited about our baby and it's okay to laugh and have fun even when things are far from ideal, okay? You are doing so well and coping so well and you are great and it's fine not to be sad all the time, you know your mum doesn't want you to be sad at all." Scorpius said soothingly, stroking her hair and tucking a few strands between her ears.

"I know Scor, I know. I know and I love you for reminding me and I know I'm being silly and illogical and I-"

"You are not being silly and it is incredible that you're managing this well, Rose. Give yourself some credit, okay?"

"Yes but my mum is-"

"Dying, I know. And it's heartbreaking Rosie, it really and truly is. But you can't hate yourself for being happy about the things that aren't heartbreaking in your life, babe. You will see your mother tomorrow at the scan and you will also see our baby. You can talk to your mum and seeing our baby may well change a lot of what's scaring you about how you feel. It will be okay, Rosie. I know that sounds stupid, but I really do promise you that things won't be as bad as you think."

"I love you, Scor." she said, wiping a tear away and burying her face into his chest.

"And I love you too, Rosie. So much." he replied, before pointing his wand at the lights and switching them off as Rose pulled the covers over them. Sighing contentedly, Rose moved so that they were both in a comfortable sleeping position and closed her eyes, falling asleep just moments later.


	8. Anger

Hermione hesitantly knocked on the door to her daughter's home. Maybe it was odd to be nervous about calling for one's daughter, but Hermione couldn't help but realise with shame that this was the first time she'd been to Rose's home since she'd helped her move in over a year ago. Hermione took a deep breath and knocked a little louder having realised how inaudible her nervous knock had been, seconds later she was greeted by Scorpius, who smiled at her as he held the door open.

"Hello Scorpius, thank you for having me." she said, knowing she was being far too formal.

"It's nothing, Hermione, you know that." he replied with a grin, embracing her in the Weasley way he'd picked up from Rose before leading her into the sitting room where Rose was already seated. Scorpius kissed Rose's forehead before going into the kitchen where he was making lunch for the three of them.

"Hi Mum!" she said exuberantly, hugging her mother tightly and kissing her on the cheek.

"How are you, Rosie?"

"Fat. I swear I've almost doubled in size since I saw you last week!" she laughed, deciding against asking her mother how she felt because she was a lot skinnier and older looking so she knew the answer would be sad and Rose wanted to focus on happy things for the next few hours.

"You look gorgeous, sweetheart. At risk of sounding too cliche, you really are glowing!"

"Not you as well, Mum. Pretty much everyone I come across tells me that pregnancy suits me and it's driving me a little bit mad!" Rose said with an eye roll as she sat back down on the sofa. Hermione sat on the armchair facing Rose's spot on the sofa and grinned at her.

"You're a Weasley woman, that's why. It drove me insane how perfect Ginny looked throughout all three pregnancies, especially how we were pregnant at the same time twice. It was awful, Rose, she looked like you do now basically, like a goddess created to bear children, whilst I was all pale and sweaty and covered in unpreventable stretchmarks and her nausea stopped after the first trimester and mine never stopped and she looked great and I looked bloated! You Weasleys must have some special gene cause Vic was the same, remember?"

Rose nodded and grinned at her mother and was about to say something when Scorpius came in to tell them that lunch was ready. Rose led her mother into their small but comfortable kitchen and gestured for her to sit down first. Hermione took the seat facing the window, although all that one could really see from it was sky. Rose took her usual seat and Scorpius sat opposite her, squeezing her hand underneath the table. The three of them began serving themselves and once her plate was full, Rose turned to her boyfriend or, as she sometimes referred to him as: her personal chef.

"This looks fab, Scor, thank you!" Rose told him appreciatively, gesturing to the impressive buffet style meal he'd prepared which covered the entire small table. "The Hogwarts house elves would be impressed! Hey, have you considered becoming a house elf, Scor? Might be more fulfilling than the Ministry for you?" she laughed, the childish part of her hoping to get a rise out of her mother for her vague joke about house elves.

"You are hilarious, Rosie. No. Anything I can pass you, Hermione?" Scorpius replied sarcastically, before turning to Hermione.

"No thank you, Scorpius. I think I have quite enough to be getting on with right here!" she smiled. Both Rose and Scorpius noted the very small quantity of food on Rose's mother's plate but neither wanted to say anything, choosing to try to keep the day as light as it could be for the time being.

The three ate quietly to begin with, even Scorpius couldn't come up with adequate small talk to fill the silence with at first. Luckily, Rose then thought to resort to the couple's usual social norm and affectionately tease Scorpius for her mother's entertainment.

"So Scorpius here will not be an only child for much longer and the little brat isn't coping very well with that news," she began, giggling when Scorpius poked his tongue out at her and Hermione's eyes widened slightly.

"Your mother's expecting?" she asked him with a gentle smile.

"Yep. Really weird isn't it?" he replied, shuddering slightly. For the last month, Scorpius had tried to make himself feel not weird about his mum having another baby but nothing was working. It wasn't what Rose had implied, it wasn't a spoilt-only-child mentality or exasperation that his inheritance would be split, though. It was more anger and annoyance. Anger that his parents had decided to love each other just in time for his future sibling not to have to have the shitty childhood he'd had, that despite what they said, his parents obviously didn't get how unhappy they'd made him, how if he hadn't made friends with Rose and Albus when he was eleven he'd probably still be really unhappy. His parents had been shitty parents to him and they were acting like just because it would be better for this kid, it made up for everything else. Also, the fact that his mum had- well, got pregnant at all, did childishly gross him out a little.

"Well I'm sure it will all work itself out fine in the end." Hermione said breezily, sensing that there was no right response to her daughter's boyfriend's reply.

"Let's hope so." Scorpius responded with an uneasy grin.

"So Rose, any ideas on whether you're having a boy or a girl?" Hermione asked.

"Nope." Rose replied shortly, suddenly annoyed with everything for no apparent reason.

"Well, the Malfoy and Weasley pureblood lines tend to be known for producing male firstborns, although there is of course no indication as to whether or not this is fact or fiction, not to mention the fact that your child will be part muggleborn and-"

"Can we please stop talking about the baby? Please. I am sick of it." Rose said angrily, cutting her mother off.

"Rose, what's wr-" Scorpius tried to ask.

"I'll tell you what's wrong, Scorpius Malfoy. What's wrong is that suddenly all anyone can find to talk about to me is the baby I'm carrying, as if I'm nothing but a fucking perishable items vehicle. Last night the way the cameras zoned in on my stomach made me sick, suddenly I no longer matter, it's what's inside of me physically that matters now, that's all that fucking matters to everyone and that makes me so pissed off sometimes, okay? Mum, I'm sorry for my rudeness but I just can't stand this a moment longer. I love this baby, I honestly do, I do not love being reduced to nothing but the contents of my womb. Me and Scor, we can talk about this baby all we want because it is ours, because we made it and because we will be there for it forever, because we are the parents and we will be proper parents. This is our baby and I'm sick of the whole world thinking they have a right to ask questions and make comments and speculate and look and stare. I hate it, okay? I thought I was ready to announce it to the world last night but I was wrong and I'm sorry for taking this out on you both." Rose shouted, before stifling a sob and running from the room.

Scorpius and Hermione sat in stunned silence for a second until Scorpius spoke.

"I should go after her, please stay here, she'll be fine and she isn't really angry at you." he told Hermione kindly, biting his lip and shifting slightly at the awkward feeling around them.

"Please make sure she knows I'm really sorry and that I'll understand if she doesn't want me to come along today. she is angry at me, Scorpius and I don't blame her, I was an awful mother to her and I think now that she's fast approaching motherhood herself, my failings are becoming all the more clear. I'll clear up, okay?" Hermione said quickly, before turning away and getting out her wand and levitating the dishes on the table to the sink. Scorpius nodded and left the kitchen.

Hermione tried to tune out the sounds of her daughter's sobs as she quickly and efficiently cleared up the kitchen. Unfortunately, she was finished in next to no time, meaning that all she could do was sit and wait for the couple to return to her. Hermione sighed to herself as she was forced to reflect on how much she had wronged her little girl in the pained her to remember how badly she'd treated her children, she'd always been so vague and detached towards them when they were small, smiling but never really there, always just thinking about Ron and her job or screaming at Ron and going to work. As a result, she'd never really been there for Rose or Hugo at all and the two little ones had obviously realised that all too soon. She had never fully connected with them because she'd never tried and when she had thought to establish a bond of sorts it had been too late. Her daughter couldn't shake that anger and resentment away and she didn't blame her. Her impending death did little to alleviate the situation at all aside from simply being a reminder of all the wasted time. She could perhaps take comfort at least in the knowledge that Rose's baby would know how loved it was from the moment it uttered its first breath. It probably already knew, in fact, Rose and Scorpius simply radiated love, affection, purity and security and she just knew that not only were they a perfect couple, but they would be incredible parents too. This baby would have everything their parents had always dreamed of and maybe that made it all a little more okay.

* * *

"Shh Rosie, it's okay babe, breathe." Scorpius mumbled consolingly to his crying girlfriend as he rubbed her back gently.

"N-n-no Scor, it isn't okay. It isn't okay be-be-ca-cause I just lost it with my dying mother a-a-and I'm ju-just s-s-so awful and I caaaan't do th-th-this Scorpius. It ju-just isn't o-o-okay because I'm just still s-s-so a-angry and I-I sh-sh-shouldn't be be-because she's fucking d-dying, Scorpius!" she sobbed, burying her face in his chest.

"Rose, she understands completely, okay? The way you feel is to be expected and it doesn't make you an awful person. Last night was definitely a bit much and I completely get why it made you so furious, okay? Just as I completely get how you feel about your parents. Trust me, sweetheart, I understand. I understand and I love you and if I were in your position I doubt I'd be handling it half as well as you have been. Things are tough but you are strong and we will find our way out of this and it will all be okay, I mean it and I promise." he told her sincerely, pulling her up into a sitting position and moving around so that they were facing each other.

Wordlessly, Rose kissed him on the cheek before moving off the bed and drying her eyes, trying to get her breathing back to normal so that she could apologise to her mother and get herself excited for the appointment in an hour's time.

* * *

_**I know this is a pretty dull chapter with far too much dialogue, but it's stuff I just wanted to make extra clear and I've run out of ideas on how I can say what I wanted to say in a more interesting way and I srta hope that sort of came across okay. I'm working on the next chapter and it's already a lot better and has more to it than an awkward meal and angry words haha. I hope you didn't hate this chapter too much so if you didn't hate it I'd love a review, but even if you did hate it I'd also love review telling me why (although I sorta know- it;s just boring mainly haha). Anyway, thank you for reading either way. **_


	9. Showers, Stars and Swings

"I know I asked you this last time, but would you like to know the gender?" Healer Bones asked Rose and Scorpius as the couple sat in her office along with Hermione, who exchanged a glance with her daughter.

"Well me and Scor don't want to know until the baby's born, but we were hoping you could let my mother know instead." Rose replied, biting her lip slightly and trying to repress the sad feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought about the fact that her mum would never get to see her grandchild. That was sort of why she'd decided her mum could know before she and Scorpius did, it meant that in spite of everything, Hermione would be included in the whole process and Rose wanted her mother to know something of her grandchild and if gender was all that could be, they'd have to go with it.

"That's fine, I will inform your mother of her grandchild's gender once you two have left the room. Before that, though, I would like to hear any concerns you might be having, It's important to remember that it's okay if you need reassuring of anything. Nineteen and twenty are very young ages to become parents and whilst I have every confidence that the two of you will be fine, we need to do everything we can to make sure you will be, so please ask me absolutely anything." the Healer told the couple comfortingly, a nearly tearful Rose visibly relaxed as she heard those words. It wasn't that she didn't believe she and Scor could do it, it was just that it was nice to hear those words.

"There's nothing in particular- I mean, I'm a little concerned about giving birth though…"

"Well the pain of childbirth is unavoidable but I can almost promise you that you will get through it and you will be okay. I recommend the two of you visiting a birthing class a couple of times just so you can learn about it and how to cope in more detail, Rose, and so you can learn how best to support her, Scorpius. I will say, though, that up to around the age of forty, witches tend to find labour far quicker and simpler."

"That's actually semi reassuring, so thank you. I don't think I have any other specific concerns right now, do you, Scor?"

"Yeah. I was wondering what to do in like, an emergency. LIke if she suddenly gets ill or has an accident or something, is Apparation safe? Floo? And where to take her if I can't get here and-" he started talking very quickly and Rose took his hand to calm him down. Scorpius had occasionally voiced such concerns to Rose and she understood why he was worried, but also felt that maybe it was partly to do with how little he felt he could do while she went through her pregnancy.

"Well unfortunately, Rose is over twenty weeks and that's when Apparation and floo become too dangerous for both her and the baby and so you may have to make a lot of changes. There's always the Knight Bus and in emergencies you can contact us here at St Myrtles via the floo network or patronus and we'll get help to you. If you find yourselves truly stranded in Muggle areas and you're certain enough that it's pregnancy related, you can get her to a Muggle hospital and she'll be looked after by Muggle doctors and midwives who are equally capable. For general transportation, I'd recommend that you maybe try to use Muggle public transport or perhaps even look into driving a car, there are lessons and-"

"We both have licences and we have a car, actually. Got them when we were 17 and spent our summer pretending to be Muggles, so much fun!" Scorpius informed her enthusiastically, grinning as he remembered all the fun he and Rose had had the summer after sixth year.

"Wow, well I think you'll be fine then. I'm sorry I implied that- well it's just unexpected that um-"

"That Draco Malfoy's son is a big fan of Muggle culture? It's fine haha, lots of people are surprised by me, I was a Gryffindor, you see." Scorpius laughed, wondering idly what his life would be now had he been sorted into Slytherin, as had been expected by, well, everyone. He might not have had the chance to know Rose, perhaps, had they never ended up sitting together at the Welcoming feast in their first year. How strange. Scorpius nearly shuddered at the thought of a life in which he never fell in love with Rose. She was a part of him and everything with her always felt so real and perfect and right and natural that he just couldn't fathom a world where he wasn't hers.

"I suppose it is a bit of a surprise, yes. Anyway, I can see here that you two live just five minutes away and so hopefully transport to and from this hospital, both as Rose's place of work and as the place where she intends on having this baby, shouldn't be an issue. That's another thing actually, I'm afraid I almost forgot to ask you, Rose, about maternity leave. As both your healer and your boss, I was wondering when you planned on stopping work and how long you planned on staying off for."

"Oh yeah. Well I was thinking I want to stop fairly soon for um, personal reasons as well as the baby and baby prep and everything, so I'd like to stop in early to mid October and to take a year from there, if that's okay." Rose said quietly, she had decided that she wanted to spend as much of her mother's last month with her as possible and her time as a maternity healer meant that she knew how uncomfortable the last two months of pregnancy could get. Scorpius had already cleared it with his boss, or her Uncle Percy, at work that he could take a full month and a half of paternity leave off after the birth of their baby as well as reducing his hours a little from early December onwards. As much as neither felt right admitting, they both came from wealthy families and didn't really have to work as much as they did.

"That is fine with me, Rose, I will do all the paperwork for that soon. Okay, now is there anything else?" Healer Bones asked. Rose and Scorpius both shook their heads and left the room, saying goodbye to the healer and waiting for Rose's mother outside.

Rose, Scorpius and a very happy Hermione left the hospital quietly, all thinking about different or maybe the same things. Hermione was happily wondering more about Rose and Scorpius's child, she knew the gender now but she was happily imagining what the infant would look like at various stages of life and growth. It was sad that she wouldn't get to be there, but there was something beautiful about at least knowing even the tiniest thing about her daughter's child. Rose was thinking about how quickly her due date and her mother's death date seemed to be approaching and she just didn't know how to think, really. Scorpius was worrying about his girlfriend, thinking about their baby and sighing internally at the word 'girlfriend' when it came to describing what Rose was to him, it had been fine just a year or so ago, but now it just didn't feel like enough.

* * *

Rose looked into the mirror as she gently brushed her hair and added large quantities of Sleakeasy's Hair Potion so as to turn her tight curls into loose waves for the night. She fancied a change from her usual look for dinner with Scorpius that night. Once she'd sorted out her hair, Rose went over to her wardrobe before realising she had no idea how to dress for the night as for whatever reason Scorpius had decided that the night should be as mysterious as possible for her. Rolling her eyes affectionately at her boyfriend's need to make everything an adventure, Rose wandered into the bathroom where he was showering.

"What's up? You gonna join me in here?" Scorpius half shouted over the water as he moved his head around the screen to talk to her properly.

"Not right now I'm afraid, Scor, it took far too long to do my hair for me to ruin it all by getting it wet and ruined before we've even left the flat!" She laughed, reaching around her very naked boyfriend to switch the shower off, affectionately squeezing his very naked bum in the process.

"It isn't fair to touch me like that when you're dressed like that, Rosie, because you're making me horrifically tempted to just give up on my beautifully planned night and to instead spend it in bed with you." he replied, giving her an incredibly hungry look.

"Dressed like what, Scor? In my bra and knickers with a protruding stomach? Does this really do it for you?" she asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

"It's you, Rose, of course it does it for me!" Scorpius said, shaking his head at her like she was ridiculous.

"Really? Well your anatomy says otherwise…" Rose giggled, very obviously looking down. Scorpius blushed slightly and jokingly glared at her.

"Well that's what happens when your girlfriend turns off your hot shower without warning, leaving you fucking freezing!"

"Oh dear, let me warm you up then honey." Rose replied, giving him a wickedly seductive look and picking up a towel.

"Rose, what are you-" his question was cut off by his moan as she rubbed her breasts up against his damp chest and began stroking him with the towel all over his body, eventually reaching what had quickly become his erection and wrapping her small hands around it before biting his shoulder and then quickly moving away.

"Better make that shower a cold one now , huh Scor?" she said with a wink, laughing at his outraged expression.

"You are such a tease, Rose Weasley." he replied half crossly.

"You can finish yourself off if you have to, babe, I need to get dressed. Also, how fancy do I dress for tonight?" Rose asked, still giggling as she remembered why she'd entered the room in the first place.

"Medium fancy. Also I hate you." he told her, now laughing as well as he switched the shower on, making it so that the water was cold.

"Okay, love you Scor!"

"Love you too!" he shouted over the running water.

Rose went back into their bedroom and to her wardrobe again, selecting a short electric blue dress that she'd bought a week previously, the very girly part of her loved that her very fast growing baby meant that she could justify a whole lot more clothes shopping than usual. After dressing, Rose decided that she really ought to treat this night out as a special occasion as it seemed that Scorpius was making such a big deal out of it. She loved him. Her love for him was something that kept surprising her, it was just something she just couldn't stop thinking and it felt like it grew stronger every day. She loved him more than she thought was possible to love anybody. She loved the baby too and the thought of her little family made her want to dance and sing with happiness and affection. Fuck, she was getting so cheesy and so sentimental now but she wasn't even sure if she cared any more. Rose laughed at herself and then stroked her twenty three week old baby through her rounded tummy and wondered idly if she was carrying a boy or a girl. Her mother knew. That was a weird thought. Her mother knew more about Rose's baby than Rose did but all that would change the moment the baby was born. So sad. So sad that her mother would never get to hold her grandchild in her arms.

Oh well. Right then there was little she could do and worrying too much wouldn't be good for the baby and wouldn't help anyone at all. She'd decided the night following her unexpected outburst at her mother two weeks previously that she'd just have to put the past behind her and enjoy spending as much time as she could with the people she loved, including her mum. She'd always regret it if she let her resentment ruin the little time that remained.

Rose was pulled out of her thoughts when Scorpius appeared behind her wearing a towel around his waist. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. Rose returned the kiss and then looked forward at the pair of them in the mirror facing her. They just looked right, she supposed. It felt right and it looked right and she and Scorpius just were right. She wished for a second to capture that image forever, she and Scorpius looking as content and happy as she felt they'd always be provided they had each other.

"Any hints about tonight allowed?" she asked Scorpius, turning so that she was facing him rather than just his reflection. Privately, she couldn't help but think that the mirror didn't do him justice, as strange as that sounded. He was beautiful and she loved him.

"Other than the fact that we'll be leaving in ten minutes, no. Trust me, it will be good."

Ten minutes later, Scorpius lead Rose to the car parked outside their block of flats. He opened the passenger side door and held it open for her as she climbed in, before closing the door and climbing into the seat beside her. He switched the car's sound system on and immediately music began to play as he started up the engine. Scorpius stole a quick glance at Rose beside him as he drove down the long road they lived on, she was grinning and her eyes were closed as she quietly sang along to the song that had been their favourite when they were fifteen.

"That was no accident, right?" she asked referring to Scorpius's choice of music once the song had finished, becoming another song which held a lot of meaning to the couple.

"Nope. Told you this night would be special, Rosie."

"When you said 'special' I'd mainly just assumed a nice meal and an interesting new position from that 'good-sex-while-pregnant' book we bought last week!" Rose giggled.

"Those things are definitely a part of it." Scorpius replied with a wink and Rose stroked his knee, hoping he wasn't joking.

After a few more special songs from their past and present, Scorpius parked the car in a spot close to their first destination of the night.

"Ohmygod, this is that restaurant where we went on our first proper date when we were fifteen, Scor!" Rose said excitedly, wrapping her arms around Scorpius and kissing him on the cheek once they'd climbed out of the car.

"Yeah, remember how offended Al was that we were going out without him?!"

"Took him ages to work out that we weren't going as friends!"

"Clueless Al was one of the best things about our time at Hogwarts," snickered Scorpius affectionately before taking Rose's arm, "anyway, shall we enter, Miss Rose?"

"We shall," Rose replied. The two crossed the road and entered the restaurant where everything had started for the first time.

* * *

After their wonderful meal had finished with what Rose and Scorpius both declared was the best cheesecake in the world, the couple paid the bill and left the restaurant hand in hand. Rose was surprised when Scorpius steered her away from the direction of the car.

"Where are we going, Scor?" she asked curiously.

"To another important place of our fifteen year old lives. This way, Rosie." he replied, pointing in the direction of the park across the street.

"Ohmygoodness, this is where-" she exclaimed, walking quickly as she clung onto Scorpius's arm.

"Yes. To the swings, Miss Rose." he replied with a grin and the couple ran for the swings in the way both had done since they were small children.

The park was beautiful in the darkness. It was a full moon and a clear night and so as well as everything being illuminated with beautiful silvery moonlight, the sky was filled with thousands of beautifully twinkling stars. The colour of the sky was breathtaking, too, it wasn't quite black, just the deepest, darkest blue. It was beautiful and perfect and something about the way that the night sky made everything else look caused Rose to feel a flutter of very real magic, a magical feeling that simply deepened the second she turned to look at the beautiful man whose hand she held. This was love and this was beauty and this was magic in its purest form. In that moment, Rose felt more alive and in awe of life than she had felt in ever such a long time.

Once they had reached the swings, Rose let go of Scorpius's hand and sat on one of the swings. Her swing, to be precise. Scorpius took the swing beside hers. His swing. For a minute or so, the two of them wordlessly went back and forwards on the swings until Scorpius stopped himself with his feet and sat still as he watched Rose fly gracefully through the air, her beautiful hair swinging in the late August breeze and a gentle grin on her beautifully freckled face. Upon noticing how he was looking at her, Rose stopped swinging and waited for the swing to slow down, leaving her feet firmly on the ground beside his.

"I love you, Rose." Scorpius simply said, shaking his head in wonder at just how real and true those words were. He didn't think he'd ever get used to being so in love with someone and doubted he ever would be used to it, let alone ever let it stop.

"I love you too, Scorpius." Rose replied, thinking similar thoughts.

"So much has changed since we were last here, since our very first kiss on these very same swings in this very same park." Scorpius observed, Rose nodded and then shook her head.

"But at the same time, a lot of things haven't changed at all. Like I feel the same for you now as I did all those years ago. I know we were young, Scor, but we fell in love for real so fast." she said, grinning and kissing him gently on the cheek.

"We did, yeah. I can't see the way I feel about you now ever changing, Rose, you still give me butterflies and you still surprise me and I'm continually overwhelmed by how much I adore you. Now, close your eyes." he said, biting his lip and ignoring the fluttery nervous sensation that threatened to overtake him right then.

"Why? Are we replicating our first-"

"We are, but just wait and close your eyes now please." Scorpius said gently, trying to soundlessly remove something from his pocket. "Now, open them."

Rose opened her eyes and turned to look at Scorpius. He had twisted around on his swing so that he was directly facing her and he held out the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. It felt like her heart was about to burst with emotion and Rose felt too choked up to say anything.

"Rose, I love you more than I'll ever be able to say and lately I feel like calling you my girlfriend just isn't enough. I want everything with you, Rosie, and I'm not asking for this to happen straight away because I don't mind, just as long as I know that one day you will be my wife. Will you marry me, Rose?" his proposal was short and simple and it led to fresh tears in Rose's eyes. Determined to speak before she became physically incapable of saying anything, Rose replied.

"Yes. Of course I'll marry you, Scor. Of course I will. I love you so much and I would love to marry you, Scor." she said, the tears in her eyes now dripping freely and she took his face in her hands and moved to kiss him as softly and as sweetly as her passion would allow. She loved him. She loved him so so much. And he loved her. And they'd be alright. They'd be perfect. They'd be forever. This night would be forever. She would never forget how real and right and perfect everything felt right then. In that moment, Rose felt invincible with love, so strong and so powerful and so permanent it was like she and all that she loved would last forever.

Unfortunately, no amount of love in the world can prevent some things from happening, as Rose was to find out just an hour later...

* * *

_**A/N. I'm sorry. I'm really not happy with the way my writing's been going at present, but hopefully it will improve before too long. I hope you didn't dislike this chapter too much but I would love it if you left me a review telling me what you think of it! Please? Any review of any kind would be so appreciated by me haha! **_

_**Thank you for reading, though.**_


	10. The Story of Rose and Scorpius

After half an hour of kissing and giggling and swinging and dancing, a giddily happy Rose and Scorpius decided it was time to leave the park and return to their beautiful little flat. On the short drive back home, Scorpius turned the car stereo up as loud as it went and they drove through the bright lights of the city and the stars to the sounds of their beautiful past and their own loud and surprisingly tuneful voices as they both sang along, living so entirely in the moment that they both felt untouchable. They weren't, thought, and that really was the whole problem.

The problem wasn't the car or Scorpius's driving or a lack of attention on the wheel or the volume of the music or Rose's laughter. Not only was Scorpius astonishingly accomplished at managing to pay attention to several things at once, but the car was in perfect condition, Rose wasn't distractingly loud and neither was the music. The problem was the other driver.

The other driver was a Muggle man in his late thirties. He was driving alone in a large red shiny 4x4 and he was driving very very quickly. He was drinking too, or at least had been. Either way, he didn't seem to look where he was going and didn't seem to acknowledge the presence of the comparatively tiny car Rose and Scorpius travelled in. He didn't notice them at all. The thing with those huge off-road cars which Muggles seem so fond of driving in suburban areas is that they make the driver feel indestructible. Hell, they make the driver actually indestructible. The car, too, is fairly hard to scratch or dent in any way. However, any vehicle it comes into contact with is unlikely to be so lucky.

Scorpius was driving one such unlucky vehicle down the same road at the same time, laughing and singing with the woman he loved more than anything else in all the world. Neither Rose nor Scorpius had even a moment to process what was happening when the bigger, stronger, more indestructible car collided with theirs. Neither Rose nor Scorpius noticed the owner of the offending vehicle simply drive away, either uncaring or unaware of the destruction he had just caused. Neither Rose nor Scorpius was conscious at that point.

* * *

Rose woke up in a bed at St Myrtle's to the anxious faces of her mother, her father, Albus and her brother. A healer also sat in the room, but Rose didn't know her.

"What's going on- Oh! Scorpius? Baby? Mum, is the baby okay? Is Scor okay? Please!" she almost screamed, clutching her stomach and looking frantically around the room for the man who had become her fiance not five hours ago.

"Rose, you were in an accident and you are likely to still be concussed from it as well as a little disoriented by the after effects of the pain potions we had to give you while we patched you up. You and your baby are doing fine and you should be able to leave in a couple of hours." the healer told her, looking at the floor as though she was hoping Rose wouldn't prompt her to talk about Scorpius.

"And Scorpius?" Rose asked frantically, a horrible feeling building up inside of her at the sight of the anxious faces all around her. It was obvious that nobody knew how to tell her whatever it was that was wrong with him.

"Mr Malfoy is in- well, a critical condition. They're doing everything they can." the healer told Rose gravely.

"Can I see him, please?" Rose began to sob.

"I'm afraid he is currently being operated on, you see sometimes when-"

"Sometimes when a patient has been injured in a particular way, the healer may have to conduct procedures similar to those of a Muggle surgeon whereby said patient is cut open, giving healer better access to the parts in need of attention as well as highlighting all that may be wrong internally in more detail than a spell or potion can." Rose recited, rolling her eyes "Recently qualified medical healer with specialisation in midwifery." she added dryly, gesturing at herself. A part of her didn't want to know anything more about what was wrong with Scorpius because she knew that for Scorpius to require operations and surgery of any kind. Usually spells and potions sufficed. Trying to ignore the panic inside of her that threatened to bubble over and cause her either to burst into tears or explode in some way or another, Rose turned to look properly at the healer until she gave more details away.

"The procedures ought to be complete within an hour and if they are successful, Mr Malfoy will be given Limitless Bodily Sleeping Draught causing his body to sleep while his mind is awake until all is healed efficiently. I have to warn you, though, Miss Weasley, that if the procedures do not go well, the healers will have no other option but to make him as comfortable as possible and get him awake long enough for you to say-"

"NO!" Rose shouted, suddenly completely unable to hold any shred of herself together, "I will not be saying goodbye because there's no way he c-can, he can't ju-ju-just die, he won't, okay? He's, he's Scorpius Malfoy and he- he can do anything, okay? He can't. He won't. He wouldn't. I- I can't. No. Stop." Rose began to shout and then began to sob before whispering quietly, more to herself than anybody else. The healer muttered something about returning later and Rose's mother moved to sit beside her daughter's bed.

"Rosie honey, I-"

"No Mum. Don't say anything at all because nothing you say will make any of this even the tiniest bit less awful, okay? Because you're going away soon too, so don't you dare try and convince me that he's strong enough to beat this because you are the strongest person in the world and that won't be enough to save you. Nothing's enough to save anybody and we're all so terrifyingly fragile, you know. It's horrible and awful and earlier everything felt the opposite. So don't say anything, none of you say anything unless it has to be said, okay?" Rose said all of this very calmly, causing everybody else in the room to look at her with even more terrified expressions on their faces. A calm, quiet Rose was, in everybody's opinion, the scariest most dangerous kind and they were all scared for her as they had no idea what was going on her mind.

For the next forty five minutes, the room was silent and Rose's face, aside from the occasional silent tear, was almost completely expressionless. Inside of her mind, however, a lot was going on. An endless stream of memories enveloped the young redhead and she clung to them. She was telling herself the story of she and Scorpius and it was a beautiful one:

They had met on the train on the way to Hogwarts for their very first year. She and Al had found themselves a compartment and were sitting opposite each other, talking excitedly about the fact that they'd be spending the next seven years of their lives going to school in an enchanted castle and learning magic for real. Within five minutes of the train having left the station, an anxious looking blonde boy entered their compartment. He was a lot taller than both of them and would maybe have been intimidating had his face been less scared and had his manner less awkward. Biting his lip anxiously, he had turned to properly face Rose and Al.

"Is it okay if I sit here with you?" he asked, looking at the floor after his request and clearly expecting immediate rejection.

"Of course. Have a seat um- what's your name?" Rose replied cheerfully, smiling at the boy and knowing that had she not had any of her family on the train, she'd be just as scared and nervous and uncomfortable at the thought of asking two strangers to sit with her.

"It's er- Scorpius Malfoy." he had replied quietly as he took the seat beside Albus and facing Rose.

"Cool, I'm Rose Weasley and this is Albus Potter and it's lovely to meet you, Scorpius." Rose grinned, deciding to completely not acknowledge the stupid things her dad had said about this boy to her on the platform because she would make her own judgements thank you very much.

"Scorpius? Hmm, you got cursed with an um, interesting name too then?" Al commented reflectively, looking pleased not to be the only person in his year with such an embarrassing name. He then obviously suddenly realised that he might have really offended this new boy with his words and was about to apologise a lot when Scorpius started laughing and nodded.

"Albus? Hmm, I think I beat you because my middle name is Hyperion. I officially have the worst name in the world and I don't think yours could possibly be worse than mine!" Scorpius replied, visibly relaxing into the conversation and it seemed as though Al's risky ice-breaker had definitely done the trick.

"Albus Severus. I think it might be a tie." Albus replied, laughing too.

"So um, Rose? What's your middle name, is it bad or?" Scorpius asked hesitantly, obviously very sweetly trying to include her in their conversation.

"It's Hermione, my mother's name. I guess it isn't bad, but then again if it wasn't my mother's name and if my mother wasn't who she is, I think it would be horrible. Like I'm sure when she was eleven, it really wasn't a great name to have to introduce yourself with, you know?" Rose replied thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. I'm sure you must get asked this a lot, both of you, but what is it like having famous parents?" Scorpius asked them both.

"Honestly? Up until now it's been great, mostly because we just have nice, happy parents who we can be proud of and we've never had to worry about money and-"

"Nice, happy parents huh, Al?" Rose asked skeptically, sighing to herself at how ridiculous it was that nobody else in the family knew how unhappy her parents were really. She turned away and looked out of the window, hoping the subject would change soon. The night before had been a particularly loud one in terms of her parent's arguments and a part of her felt awful about leaving Hugo behind while she went off to school.

"Well yeah, aren't your parents happy?" Albus had asked her, baffled. Scorpius had said nothing, but had offered Rose a chocolate frog and a gentle and understanding smile.

And that was when it had happened, when the unbreakable bond between Rose and Scorpius had been wordlessly made. From then on, Rose, Scorpius and Albus had been the best of friends and that hadn't changed besides Rose and Scorpius falling in love outside of the friendship context.

Rose couldn't pinpoint exactly when she'd started to really fall in love with Scorpius Malfoy. She knew she'd started fancying him in the September of third year, he'd grown even taller over the summer and had been practicing all summer to try out for Gryffindor keeper and had become more muscular as well. His face had changed too, he looked older and also sounded older, his voice a lot deeper. His manner had changed slightly that year too, he was less shy and was yet still incredibly gentle and understanding. She'd started realising those things about him on the train journey with him and Al, and when she wasn't trying to subtly check out the boy who had been her best friend for the last two years, she was thinking about how much she liked him. She'd done her changing over the summer too, but she didn't feel like she wore puberty as well as Scorpius did, she couldn't help but think that her now much larger breasts didn't fit onto her petite frame very well, that her widened hips looked strange in her school skirt and that her face just looked weird without its childlike roundness. On that train journey, she and Scorpius kept accidently awkwardly looking at each other and turning away the moment the other saw one staring back. Eventually, Albus had had to step in and just say what they were both thinking about each other and that had surprisingly helped ease the uncomfortable feeling in the compartment. Albus's words still made Rose laugh today though:

"Yes Rose, Scor is now a tall hunky man with a deep voice and has finally found a hair cut that doesn't look horrendous. Yes Scor, Rose now undeniably has boobs so you can stop leering at my cousin no matter how subtle you think you are being. There? Is that enough? Good, now stop gawking and talk like normal people because this is boring me now, okay?"

The comment about Scorpius leering at her had confused Rose- had he noticed the other changes in her too? Or was he mostly just interested in her chest? Also, did she want him to leer at her? Was leering the correct word? Oh dear. Did this mean Scorpius was attracted to her now too? Wait, did this mean she was attracted to Scorpius. Shit. This couldn't be good, he was her best friend and this was now so stressful. Oh dear, Rose had never fancied anyone before and had no idea what to do. Pretend nothing was weird was probably the only solution. Act like he was just her best friend Scorpius Malfoy. Because he was. He was lovely and funny and kind and fun and so, so pretty. No. She needed to stop thinking about his looks. He was her best friend, no no no. This should stop. He was Scor and she loved him as a friend and she needed to not let her hormones ruin that.

For almost the next two years, Rose and Scorpius stayed best friends and they and Al did pretty much everything together. It was nice. Rose felt really lucky to have a cousin she liked so much as a best friend and a boy she liked so much as her other best friend. Scorpius was nice and funny and kind and pretty and those were all nice qualities for a boy best friend to have, she had constantly reasoned. She could acknowledge his attractiveness privately to herself without changing things and making it awkward and she found it was easy even to fancy him quietly to herself. He was her best friend and she loved him as a friend and also had a crush on him which become stronger and stronger every day. And that was fine. She'd get over it. Except she didn't and, he informed her eventually, neither did he.

As the train pulled into King's Cross after their fourth year and everyone was scurrying around getting their things together, Scorpius took Rose to one side and looked carefully at her. Rose tried to stop her heart rate from increasing at the sight and presence of her best friend who gave her butterflies and tingles and made her smile like an idiot all of the time. He had only become better looking over the last two years and Rose couldn't help but think for the millionth time that her best friend was beautiful.

"Rosie, will you write to me over the summer?" he asked gently, giving her a smile that melted her just a little. He always asked this, like he just had to check that she would still want him around when she wasn't seeing him all the time. It was silly and she wished he wasn't so insecure sometimes. He was lovely and she loved him. As a friend.

"Of course I will, Scor. You'll stay with Al a lot, yeah? And I can see you and you can visit me and we'll have fun like always and it will be nice." she said with a grin, looking forward to the summer ahead. They usually went on adventures in the summer, she, Al and Scorpius. They liked to explore all over the country and were especially keen on visiting Muggle areas and stuff. The three of them adored Muggle studies and were always up for learning more.

"Yeah, definitely. Also Rose, I um, I wanted to ask if you err- if you want to go out some time. With me." he asked hesitantly, biting his lip anxiously before looking at the floor. Rose's heart leapt, was this really happening? Was he really asking her out? Wow. Did he- did he feel for her too? He must, otherwise he wouldn't be asking and- wow.

"I would love to go out some time. With you, Scorpius." Rose replied, grinning widely and feeling so insanely happy she didn't have words for it.

"Great. I'll um, write to you with details." he replied, still slightly nervous but with a similarly huge smile on his very pretty face. The two then hugged for longer than friends tend to hug for before both eventually pulling away with stupid grins on their faces. Rose felt like she was floating with happiness because her beautiful best friend had asked to go out with her.

Their first date had been precisely the one Scorpius had replicated in his proposal, a nice meal out followed by swings and stars and giving each other their very first kiss. Rose remembered that Scorpius had tasted of chocolate ice cream and that the first time he had kissed her it had felt like nothing else even existed, like they were the only two people in the world and all that mattered was the way his lips felt on hers. And that was all that had really mattered, that they loved each other and that they had each other and that still hadn't changed. She had fallen in love that night in that park in the almost dark with the twinkly stars and the swings while she kissed her beautiful blonde best friend and she was still as insanely in love with him four years later and didn't ever see that changing.

After that first date, Rose and Scorpius made it official that they were together and made it clear to their disapproving fathers that they really didn't give a shit about the ancient rivalry between the Weasleys and the Malfoys. Nobody else was actually all that surprised, Albus's response to their announcement that they were a couple was simply: "It's about time!" and pretty much everyone else in their year had thought they'd been together for years already. Being Scorpius's girlfriend was so nice and they were so so happy and no matter what else was going on in their lives, no matter how shitty the holidays where they had to go home and listen to their parents fight were. Rose and Scorpius and Scorpius had Rose and that was all that really mattered.

Being in love was scary. So incredibly scary. But it was also nice and comforting and gentle and warm and special and made Rose feel like nothing could ever go wrong. Every now and then, she and Scorpius got into stupid fights and it felt like everything was falling apart until someone, usually Scorpius, backed down and apologised and everything was okay again. They loved each other so much and it was scary, definitely.

Scorpius was Rose's best friend as well as her boyfriend and he made her laugh more than anyone else ever could, even Al. When she was sad he comforted her and gave her whatever it was she needed, whether it was silence or distraction or someone to listen to or someone to hold her until it all felt better. She did the same for him. They laughed together and they played together and they loved each other in an almost impossible to express way. They weren't one of those couples who were all over each other all of the time, at most they might sometimes hold hands when wandering around Hogsmeade or maybe dance and share a little kiss during a Gryffindor party or sometimes occasionally send notes to each other in class when one was having a bad day. They weren't nauseating to be around because they were simply best friends who happened to be very much in love. When they were alone, though, when they were strolling around the Hogwarts grounds at night or lying in Scorpius's bed with the curtains drawn and a silencing charm up or visiting Muggle tourist attractions over the holidays, they behaved as one would expect lovestruck teenagers to behave. Sometimes they were quiet, sometimes simply lying on top of the covers holding hands and exchanging very few words was all they wanted, there was just something so beautiful about lying beside a person you loved endlessly and being still and quiet with them. Sometimes they'd laugh and dance and giggle as they dipped their toes into the lake, teasing each other about the giant squid before ending up knee deep in water and completely distracted by the way it felt to hold and kiss and touch someone they loved in such a ridiculous way. Sometimes she'd sit on his lap on the London Underground and make it clear to everyone around her that he was hers and she was his through her occasional kiss on his cheek and the way they played with each other's hair. Sometimes they'd lie in Scorpius's bed together and kiss and touch and slide under the covers, slowly and gently undressing each other until they both lay bare and raw and in love beside each other.

The first time Rose and Scorpius had slept together was during the Christmas holidays of their sixth year, when she was sixteen and he'd just turned seventeen and they were alone in Malfoy Manor. Their first time had been gentle and caring and beautiful as well as being passionate and spontaneous and just a little clumsy. It was everything she had ever wanted and it just made her love her even more if that was even possible. He was her everything and he made her so happy and they had given each other their first everything and he mattered so much to her and it had scared her how in love she was before she'd even turned 17.

And everything had been great. Really great. He made her happy and they had a lot of fun together and she loved him and he loved her and she could never imagine not wanting him around or not being in love with him. And they'd spend the remaining year and a half of Hogwarts all happy and nice with the occasional fight and it was all good and lovely and then they'd bought their lovely flat together and then Rose had got all weird about feeling trapped and stuff and Scorpius had played along and they'd argued a lot but they both still loved each other stupidly and it had been silly and unconventional and pointless most of the time but he loved her and she loved him and they knew that eventually something would change and they'd be more okay than ever and then that something had turned out to be Rose's pregnancy and now they were happier together than ever and he'd just proposed and she'd just said yes and they were going to have a baby and maybe get a cat soon but then that stupid car had hit them and everything was suddenly all messy and scary and Rose just couldn't deal with the thought that she might possibly lose the beautiful blonde boy she loved with everything she had.

* * *

"Miss Weasley, I have news about Mr Malfoy now." the healer said, having re-entered the room forty five minutes after leaving Rose to her thoughts. Rose took a deep breath and turned to face her properly. No matter what the news was, she would have to hold it together. She owed him that.

* * *

_**A/N. I was actually quite pleased with the way this chapter turned out and that doesn't happen very often. Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed, favourited and followed so far, I really appreciate your support. I would, however, love a few more reviews, so please give me a review maybe, it just needs to be a sentence telling me whether you liked it or not and why, seriously. Anything will do, I just really could do with some more feedback- please?**_


	11. Scorpius

**(Scorpius POV)**

* * *

Where the fuck am I? My eyes are closed and I can't move and I don't feel anything at all and all I can hear is the scribbling of a quill on parchment and two voices that are so quiet I can't actually hear what they're saying. I don't know where I am and I am trying to work out what happened and what I'm doing here, wherever 'here' is.

The last thing I can remember is being in the car with Rose, we were singing and I was trying not to stare at her because she is beautiful and her voice is beautiful and I love her and she had just agreed to marry me sometime and we're having a baby and I love everything about her and I've already lost track of what I'm trying to remember. Yeah, so we were in the car and I was driving and Rose was stupidly gorgeous and everything was all clear on the road ahead and behind us and we were nearly home. And then suddenly it wasn't. It was one of those huge, ugly 4x4 things and I didn't have time to process what was happening until it happened and suddenly I lost consciousness. Rose? Where's Rose?

Where is she? No. Rose? Fuck, the baby too? No. She has to be alright. She can't not be alright. She's Rose and she can't not be okay. Where's Rose and where am I and holy Merlin what the fuck is going on?

Maybe I'm half dead, maybe this is what it's like to be about to die. Fuck, maybe I actually am dead for all I know, maybe this is what death's like, maybe my mind will be gone soon too. I really hope I'm not dead, but it would be better if I die than if Rose does. Rose. Oh no, Rose.

I just can't think right now. It's all so scary and overwhelming and I just need to know what's going on. Wait, I can hear another sound, I think maybe it's the sound of a door opening. A door? It seems I must be in a room of sorts. I can hear the voices a bit louder now.

"Miss Weasley, please come in." one of the speakers is saying as the door shuts. Miss Weasley? Rose? It has to be Rose! If Rose is here and she's capable of getting to where I am, she has to be okay. Words can't describe the relief I feel now. Rose must be okay and unless I've been here for ages and ages and ages, I'm imagining the baby must be okay too. "Now Rose, if you would like to explain the situation to Mr Malfoy, you're more than welcome too. As you know, patients tend to heal quickest when the primary voices around them are those of their loved ones" the unknown voice continues, and based on the mention of patients and Rose knowing about patients, I come to the conclusion that I must be in Rose's hospital. that makes a lot of sense, actually.

As I hear the girl I love sigh and move around to somewhere closer to where I must presumably by lying, I mentally breathe a sigh of relief that I must therefore not be dead yet and that Rose must also be alive. Unless we were both really fucking wrong when we talked about how we don't think there's much of an 'other side' when it comes to death and shit. Rose begins to speak and I immediately feel so much calmer.

"Scor, it's me, Rose. About six hours ago we were in a car crash and right now we're in St Myrtles. I'm fine and the baby's fine, I wasn't hit much, you see. You got the full impact and you have been very seriously injured. As a result, you've undergone some serious surgery and been placed in one of those awful awake-but-in-a-coma-physically thing I'm always complaining about and plotting to get discontinued. Anyway, you'll be in this conscious coma for a while, probably a week, while your body heals itself from the trauma and subsequent surgery. Chances are you're awake right now, but you'll find that it is possible to go to sleep properly for a bit as well, like the standard 8 hours at night shit, except that presumably you'll have a huge panic when you wake up and literally cannot move or speak or anything until the situation is explained to you or you've gathered your thoughts and remembered. If that's possible. That's the thing you see, Scor, there's a very small chance that blacking out may have had an impact on your memory and you could potentially have brain damage of some description. Almost certainly not, though. Either way, for the next week I will be doing my best to tell you all about you and me and our life together and our friends and everything because that way, if you have forgotten you'll know now and if you hadn't forgotten- well, our story's great isn't it! Before I start being your Rose, though, I'm gonna be Healer Rose and inform you a little bit about what life will be like after you're out of this coma, presuming you're not brain damaged or anything." she informs me, speaking quickly but clearly. If I could grin right now, I would, because I'm not brain damaged and because Rose is fine and because it's so interesting to get this insight into my girlfriend's- no, my fiance's work. I wonder why it's taking her so long to get back to me with this Healer Rose important business and then I hear a door open and then close again followed by silence for what I'm guessing is about half an hour.

While she's gone, I lie still and try to think about how fortunate I am. I am alive and will most likely be absolutely fine before too long, Rose is also alive and also seems fine and the baby's fine too and that's all that really matters.

I can't help but wonder why Rose is the only one here, though, like I'm no expert but I'm under the impression I could have died, so the naive little boy in me can't help but wonder why my parents aren't here at all- do I really mean that little to them? Actually, yes, I really do mean that little to them, especially now that they're having another child and can have another shot at the whole parenting thing. I've had my suspicions before, you see, but now I'm pretty certain that they've basically given up on me, like I was their first model and I was very unsuccessful. Of course, I can partly understand why they'd want to try again because it's not at all like what traditional pureblood parents look for in a son. No, my appreciation for Muggle culture, friendships with the Weasley-Potters, sorting into Gryffindor house, romantic connection with a half blood Weasley, not to mention my general perceived disregard for the Malfoy name makes me probably the biggest letdown to formal pureblood society since Sirius Black. In all honesty, this is something I'm quite proud of.

I hear Rose re-enter the room quietly and as weird as it sounds, I swear I can feel a shift in her mood which is only confirmed by her slightly different tone of voice when she continues to speak:

"Sorry about that sudden pause, Scor, weird weird weird conversations which I will go into after I have said what I was about to say. All it is is that once you've woken up, they'll keep you here under observation for two nights and if all continues to be okay, you can go home although you will not be allowed to work for another three weeks and in those three weeks you are discouraged from walking and standing for too long, no strenuous exercise of any kind either. You'll be on a shit load of potions for at least a month as well. After all of that though, you'll be fine, you'll make a full recovery." she tells me gently before moving around the room a bit. I get the impression that she has taken a seat beside my bed. Also, knowing Rose, I imagine that she's probably touching me, perhaps stroking my forehead or holding my hand. I wish I could feel her touch. I hear her shift in her seat slightly before sighing and beginning to tell me

"Okay, so you see, another healer was waiting outside to tell me off for essentially doing work outside of my working hours and for being on my feet too much given the recent accident and my pregnancy haha, remember that I look a lot more pregnant than I am just yet! Big baby we're having, I guess! So I said that to him and he frowned and went on about how I look like someone pregnant with twins would look like at five months and I was like okay healer, not only do I specialise in midwifery, but I have had two scans and there's just the one baby in the picture and he just looked a little baffled and told me I really should have a Muggle-style check up because there are some things that our tests don't pick up on. So yeah, I have booked that for tomorrow. I know you probably want me to wait until you're awake and can come too, but I think it's really important to find out if anything's wrong so that if there is, it can be addressed as soon as possible." she's quiet for a long time after saying all of that and I wish I could comfort her. I need to hold her hand and wrap my arms around her and tell her things will work out okay.

I am scared for Rose and for our baby and I really hope things will all be alright. Anxiously, I simply try not to think too much as I wait for Rose to speak again. Luckily, just a few minutes later Albus enters the room, making loud jokes and causing a welcome distraction. I begin to feel a little less scared and uneasy when I hear Rose giggle at something Al has said. Hopefully it will be okay and Rose will be okay and the baby will be okay and everything will be okay.

This needs to be okay, it has to be.

* * *

_**A/N. I hope this chapter was okay haha, I really liked writing in Scorpius's POV and I'm interested in what you thought of it, so I would love it if you reviewed! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really really appreciate it . **_


	12. Bigger News

Rose found it really weird to not have Scorpius with her as she took the lift to the above floor upon which she was to be tested for whatever it was that the healer bloke thought might be wrong with her. He hadn't said much and in all honesty, Rose didn't want to know much until she knew if there was a problem. There didn't seem much point getting worked up when in might turn out that nothing was wrong at all.

The tests weren't too bad and she'd known in advance what they'd be doing to her having learnt about the combined muggle and magical methods and medicines that healers tended to use when there appeared to be problems not picked up on by the spells and potions used in the usual check ups witches received. Rose was alone in the room as she waited for the healer to come back with the results so far, she was alone because Scorpius was stuck in that horrible fake not-quite coma while he healed and her mother was feeling especially ill and had had to go home. Al had offered to go with her, but she hadn't wanted him to blow off work for her and, besides herself and the healers conducting the tests, she'd wanted Scorpius to be the first to know what was going on even if he couldn't respond just yet.

Rose thought about what it must be like for Scorpius right then. Knowing him, she imagined he was probably really glad and relieved to be alive and for she and the baby to be okay as well, she also imagined he'd be a bit frustrated at being completely incapable of speech and movement and his complete numbness because this was Scor and Scor hated sitting still with a vengeance and only managed to be quiet and still when she was being quiet and still with him. He was so crazy and energetic and it made her laugh that he would be forced to stay pretty still and do very little for the next month, it would drive him completely mad and mad Scorpius was hilarious. He'd probably be a bit worried about her and the baby given that she'd felt she had to tell him about the tests and stuff. Hopefully it would all be okay and he'd wake soon and the tests would come back as there being nothing to worry about and all would be fine. It was with this thought that Rose tried to calm herself down a little more as the healer came into the room.

"Weirdly enough, all of the rigorous magical tests show nothing but a healthy baby of magical blood who is far smaller than your size suggests. As a result, we will start by giving you an ultrasound scan as opposed to a magical one, okay?"

"Do you have any ideas of what it might be?" Rose asked as she lay on the bed and pulled her top up in preparation.

"Yes, but I don't think you're going to like it." the healer replied, biting her lip.

"Just tell me, please." Rose asked, never having been one to avoid or put off potentially bad news.

"Well, as I'm sure you've learnt; magical and muggle maternity practice was once very similar except we had better pain relief and were more able to accurately date a pregnancy and give due dates. Things changed rapidly in the last two decades and now a whole range of potions, spells, equipment and practices have been developed magically, making our care ultimately superior. However, the success of all of these things works only on witches carrying children of magical blood. Now, that's rarely a problem given the rarity of non-magical children born to magical parents, in fact there's not been such a child for at least two years." the healer spoke quickly, constantly checking Rose's face to make sure she got the drift of what was really being said and that she was okay with it.

"So you think I might be carrying twins, one of which has no magic and is, to use more slang terms, a squib?" Rose asked gently, almost laughing with relief. Squibs were rare and still fairly taboo, but she knew that being the parents of a squib would not be a big deal at all to she and Scorpius, the only difference between this child and the other child would be that from the age of eleven, one would be at Hogwarts and one wouldn't. Rose and Scorpius tended to live a fairly muggle lifestyle as it was, so really both children would get the best of both worlds when it came to muggle and wizarding culture. Of course, plenty of others in magical society would have a problem, but not those who really mattered. Instead of thinking and worrying at all about potentially having a non magical child, Rose was suddenly hit by the realisation that she'd be having two babies.

"Yes, that is what I think. I'm sorry." the healer said.

"Don't be sorry, Healer, the magical abilities of my children don't mean much to me really, like I'll be their mother and I'll love them and be proud of them no matter what. No, what I'm suddenly shocked and a little scared but also almost excited about about is the fact that I'm probably having twins!" Rose said with a laugh at how shocked the healer was at how okay she was with it.

"Wow, I'm really surprised and pleased to hear that actually, Rose. Last time I delivered that news I thought the woman would punch me! Times have changed, I suppose. Also, from what you've just said, I think you'll be a great mother," the healer smiled, "Now, let's find out for sure if there are two babies in there!"

There were two babies in there. Twins. The second she heard both heartbeats, Rose felt so happy and filled with love that she could burst. The love she'd already felt for the child she believed was just one had multiplied and she found herself overwhelmed by the power she felt inside of her right then.

"Wow." Rose simply said, grinning at the healer.

"Now, for simplicity's sake, Rose, I am going to ask if it's okay to now disclose the genders of the babies to you, it's just that it'll make it a lot easier when discussing them and things, what do you think?" the healer said

"Yeah, that's fine. Am I having boys or girls or a boy and a girl?" Rose replied, suddenly curious and very excited it didn't matter at all to her that it wouldn't be a surprise, they really had had enough surprises in the last couple of months to last quite a while. It was a shame that Scorpius couldn't find out at the same time as her, though, luckily she'd be able to tell him the moment she left to go to his room.

"One of each." the healer said, "the girl is the baby who showed up on all the magical tests and scans and the boy was the baby who remained undetected until today." she said this almost apologetically and Rose wanted to roll her eyes, knowing that this woman was obviously a bit surprised that the male Malfoy heir didn't possess magical powers.

"Cool, are they both definitely healthy?" Rose asked, their health was, of course, the main thing.

"Yes, they're both doing really well."

"Thank goodness. Twins, though, wow." Rose said, shaking her head slightly in shock. In around four months time, this boy and this girl would be born. She was their mother and Scorpius was their father and things would be cool and great. Hopefully.

* * *

**_A/N This is really short, I know. It's just that I have much bigger plans for this story and I need to move things along haha. Please review!_**


End file.
